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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1870

To strengthen the competitiveness of the United States motor vehicle sector

by creating a Motor Vehicle Industry Competitiveness Commission.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 27, 1993

Mr. LEVIN introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, Foreign

Affairs, and the Judiciary

A BILL

To strengthen the competitiveness of the United States motor

vehicle sector by creating a Motor Vehicle Industry Competitiveness Commission.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Motor Vehicle Industry

5 Competitiveness Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) A strong United States motor vehicle sector

2 is critical to our international competitiveness and to

3 the health of our industrial base.

4 (2) The United States motor vehicle and motor

5 vehicle parts industries directly employ 1,200,000

6 workers in high-paying jobs, and indirectly support

7 another million jobs in supplier industries.

8 (3) The United States motor vehicle industry

9 accounts for 4.5 percent of the Gross National Prod10 uct, 77 percent of the total consumption of the natu11 ral rubber industry, 67 percent of the lead industry,

12 40 percent of the machine tool industry, 25 percent

13 of the glass industry, 20 percent of the semiconduc14 tor industry, 18 percent of the aluminum industry,

15 and 12 percent of the steel industry. The United

16 States motor vehicle industry also accounts for 12.4

17 percent of all corporate research and development.

18 (4) United States motor vehicle makers have

19 experienced serious financial difficulty over the past

20 several years, with the Big Three losing

21 $8,000,000,000 in 1991 alone. Hundreds of United

22 States motor vehicle parts companies have gone out

23 of business in the last several years, and tens of

24 thousands of United States motor vehicle parts

25 workers have lost their jobs.
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1 (5) The problems facing the United States

2 motor vehicle sector are reflected in the trade deficit

3 of that sector with Japan, which exceeded

4 $30,000,000,000 in 1991 and accounted for almost

5 half of the entire United States world trade deficit.

6 (6) Despite years of negotiations through the

7 MOSS process, United States motor vehicle parts

8 companies have been excluded from the Japanese

9 market, where they account for less than 1 percent

10 of all sales. This trade imbalance, which has been

11 caused in part by Japanese structural barriers such

12 as keiretsu, poses a threat to the health of the Unit13 ed States motor vehicle parts industry, as well as to

14 the many United States industries that supply the

15 motor vehicle parts industry.

16 (7) High health care costs have a significant

17 impact of the competitiveness of United States

18 motor vehicle makers. The Big Three must pass

19 along to consumers as much as $700 more per car

20 in health care costs than Japanese companies.

21 (8) Worldwide excess capacity in the motor ve22 hicle industry of several million units has put further

23 pressure on the United States market and the Unit24 ed States motor vehicle industry.
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1 (9) Clear, broad-based government economic,

2 trade, health and United States tax policies are

3 needed to improve the competitiveness of the United

4 States motor vehicle sector and to stem further job

5 losses in these industries.

6 SEC. 3. MOTOR VEHICLE INDUSTRY COMPETITIVENESS

7 COMMISSION.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the

9 Motor Vehicle Industry Competitiveness Commission

10 (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commis11 sion’’).

12 (b) FUNCTIONS.—

13 (1) INVESTIGATION AND STUDY.—The Commis14 sion shall make a complete investigation and study

15 of the financial condition of the domestic motor vehi16 cle sector, including the laws, regulations, and for17 eign trade barriers that pose impediments to its

18 competitiveness.

19 (2) POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS.—Based on the

20 results of the investigation and study required to be

21 conducted under paragraph (1), the Commission

22 shall recommend to the President and Congress

23 those policies that need to be adopted to—

24 (A) achieve the national goal of a strong

25 and competitive motor vehicle sector;
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1 (B) facilitate the sales of United States2 made motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts by

3 improving competitiveness at home and opening

4 markets abroad;

5 (C) reduce the motor vehicle sector trade

6 deficit with foreign countries, particularly

7 Japan;

8 (D) implement an industry-wide health

9 care plan that helps relieve the burden of exces10 sive health care costs on the motor vehicle and

11 motor vehicle parts industries; and

12 (E) promote job growth in the motor vehi13 cle sector.

14 (3) SPECIFIC ISSUES.—In carrying out para15 graph (1), the Commission shall specifically inves16 tigate and study the following:

17 (A) The current financial condition of the

18 motor vehicle industry and how the industry’s

19 financial condition is likely to change over the

20 next 5 years, including—

21 (i) the profits or losses likely to be

22 achieved by United States motor vehicle

23 sector manufacturers (which term, for pur24 poses of this Act, means motor vehicle
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1 manufacturers and motor vehicle parts

2 manufacturers) over the next 5 years, and

3 (ii) the market share gains or losses

4 likely to be achieved by United States

5 motor vehicle manufacturers in the United

6 States and key markets abroad over the

7 next 5 years.

8 (B) The foreign barriers to export or for9 eign investment by United States motor vehicle

10 sector manufacturers, especially in Japan.

11 (C) The extent to which health care costs

12 impede the competitiveness of United States

13 motor vehicle sector manufacturers.

14 (D) The extent to which the United States

15 tax laws impede the competitiveness of United

16 States motor vehicle sector manufacturers.

17 (E) Whether the Federal Government

18 should take any action with respect to United

19 States trade or antitrust laws to open foreign

20 markets to United States motor vehicle prod21 ucts, to open ‘‘transplant’’ facilities in the Unit22 ed States to United States motor vehicle parts,

23 or to make the United States motor vehicle sec24 tor more competitive.
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1 (F) Whether the policies and strategies of

2 the Federal Government have adequately ad3 dressed the competitiveness needs of the United

4 States motor vehicle industry.

5 (G) The potential impact of trade agree6 ments or trade negotiations on employment in

7 the United States industry.

8 (H) The impact on the competitiveness of

9 the United States motor vehicle industry of the

10 1989 Department of the Treasury ruling

11 classifying multipurpose vehicles as cars instead

12 of light trucks.

13 (I) The impact of agreements involving

14 other countries, including the European Com15 munity-Japan motor vehicle market-share ar16 rangement, on the competitiveness of the Unit17 ed States motor vehicle industry.

18 (J) Whether the Federal Government

19 should take any legislative or administrative ac20 tions to improve the financial conditions of the

21 United States motor vehicle industry.

22 (K) The extent to which the manufactur23 ing programs of the Federal Government, in24 cluding those at the National Institute of Tech25 nology, of the Department of Commerce, can be
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1 better utilized to make the United States motor

2 vehicle industry more competitive.

3 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—

4 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Commission shall be

5 composed of 15 members as follows:

6 (A) 3 members appointed by the President.

7 (B) 3 members appointed by the Speaker

8 of the House of Representatives.

9 (C) 3 members appointed by the majority

10 leader of the Senate.

11 (D) 3 members appointed by the minority

12 leader of the House of Representatives.

13 (E) 3 members appointed by the Senate

14 Republican Leader of the Senate.

15 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Appointments under

16 paragraph (1) shall be made from among individuals

17 who are experts in motor vehicle trade and economic

18 policy, including individuals from organizations rep19 resenting United States motor vehicle sector manu20 facturers and employees of those manufacturers and

21 from the Federal, State, and local governments.

22 (3) TERMS.—Members shall be appointed for

23 the life of the Commission.
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1 (4) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission

2 shall be filled in the manner in which the original

3 appointment was made.

4 (5) PAY.—Members shall serve without pay.

5 (6) CHAIRMAN.—The Chairman of the commis6 sion shall be elected by the members.

7 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

8 (a) STAFF ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGEN9 CIES.—Upon request of the Commission, the head of any

10 department or agency of the Untied States may detail any

11 of the personnel of that department or agency to the Com12 mission to assist it in carrying out its functions under this

13 Act.

14 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon

15 the request of the Commission, the Administrator of Gen16 eral Services may provide the Commission with the admin17 istrative support services necessary for the Commission to

18 carry out its functions under this Act.

19 (c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission

20 may secure directly from any department or agency of the

21 United States information (other than information re22 quired by any statute of the United States to be kept con23 fidential by such department or agency) necessary for the

24 Commission to carry out its duties under this section.

25 Upon request of the Commission, the head of that depart-
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1 ment or agency shall furnish such nonconfidential infor2 mation to the Commission.

3 (d) REPORT.—Not later than six months after the

4 date on which the initial appointment of the members of

5 the Commission is completed, the Commission shall trans6 mit to the President and Congress a report on the activi7 ties of the Commission, including the recommendations re8 quired under section 3(b)(2).

9 (e) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate

10 on the one hundred and eightieth day following the date

11 of transmittal of the report under subsection (d). All

12 records and papers of the Commission shall thereupon be

13 delivered by the Administrator of General Services for

14 deposit in the National Archives.

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