I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2621
To extend trade authorities procedures with respect to reciprocal trade
agreements, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 7, 1997
Mr. ARCHER (for himself, Mr. CRANE, and Mr. DREIER) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means,
and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To extend trade authorities procedures with respect to
reciprocal trade agreements, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
TITLE I—TRADE AUTHORITIES
PROCEDURES
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Reciprocal Trade
Agreement Authorities Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 102. TRADE NEGOTIATING OBJECTIVES.
(a) OVERALL TRADE NEGOTIATING OBJECTIVES.—
The overall trade negotiating objectives of the United
States for agreements subject to the provisions of section
103 are—
(1) to obtain more open, equitable, and recip-
rocal market access;
(2) to obtain the reduction or elimination of
barriers and distortions that are directly related to
trade and that decrease market opportunities for
United States exports or otherwise distort United
States trade;
(3) to further strengthen the system of inter-
national trading disciplines and procedures, includ-
ing dispute settlement; and
(4) to foster economic growth, raise living
standards, and promote full employment in the Unit-
ed States and to enhance the global economy.
(b) PRINCIPAL TRADE NEGOTIATING OBJECTIVES.—
(1) TRADE BARRIERS AND DISTORTIONS.—The
principal negotiating objectives of the United States
regarding trade barriers and other trade distortions
are—
(A) to expand competitive market opportu-
nities for United States exports and to obtain
fairer and more open conditions of trade by re-
ducing or eliminating tariff and nontariff bar-
riers and policies and practices of foreign gov-
ernments directly related to trade that decrease
market opportunities for United States exports
or otherwise distort United States trade; and
(B) to obtain reciprocal tariff and non-
tariff barrier elimination agreements, with par-
ticular attention to those tariff categories cov-
ered in section 111(b) of the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3521(b)).
(2) TRADE IN SERVICES.—The principal nego-
tiating objective of the United States regarding
trade in services is to reduce or eliminate barriers to
international trade in services, including regulatory
and other barriers that deny national treatment and
unreasonably restrict the establishment and oper-
ations of service suppliers.
(3) FOREIGN INVESTMENT.—The principal ne-
gotiating objective of the United States regarding
foreign investment is to reduce or eliminate artificial
or trade-distorting barriers to trade related foreign
investment by—
(A) reducing or eliminating exceptions to
the principle of national treatment;
(B) freeing the transfer of funds relating
to investments;
(C) reducing or eliminating performance
requirements and other unreasonable barriers
to the establishment and operation of invest-
ments;
(D) seeking to establish standards for ex-
propriation and compensation for expropriation,
consistent with United States legal principles
and practice; and
(E) providing meaningful procedures for
resolving investment disputes.
(4) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.—The principal
negotiating objectives of the United States regarding
trade-related intellectual property are—
(A) to further promote adequate and effec-
tive protection of intellectual property rights,
including through—
(i)(I) ensuring accelerated and full
implementation of the Agreement on
Trade-Related 
Aspects 
of 
Intellectual
Property Rights referred to in section
101(d)(15) of the Uruguay Round Agree-
ments Act (19 U.S.C. 3511(d)(15)),
(II) achieving improvements in the
standards of that Agreement, particularly
with respect to United States industries
whose 
products 
are 
subject 
to 
the
lengthiest transition periods for full com-
pliance by developing countries with that
Agreement; and
(III) ensuring that the provisions of
any multilateral or bilateral trade agree-
ment entered into by the United States
provide protection at least as strong as the
protection afforded by chapter 17 of the
North American Free Trade Agreement
and the annexes thereto;
(ii) providing strong protection for
new and emerging technologies and new
methods of transmitting and distributing
products embodying intellectual property;
(iii) preventing or eliminating dis-
crimination with respect to matters affect-
ing the availability, acquisition, scope,
maintenance, use, and enforcement of in-
tellectual property rights; and
(iv) providing strong enforcement of
intellectual 
property 
rights, 
including
through accessible, expeditious, and effec-
tive civil, administrative, and criminal en-
forcement mechanisms; and
(B) to secure fair, equitable, and non-
discriminatory market access opportunities for
United States persons that rely upon intellec-
tual property protection.
(5) TRANSPARENCY.—The principal negotiating
objective of the United States with respect to trans-
parency is to obtain broader application of the prin-
ciple of transparency through—
(A) increased and more timely public ac-
cess to information regarding trade issues and
the activities of international trade institutions;
and
(B) increased openness of dispute settle-
ment proceedings, including under the World
Trade Organization.
(6) RECIPROCAL
TRADE
IN
AGRICULTURE.—
The principal negotiating objective of the United
States with respect to agriculture is to obtain com-
petitive opportunities for United States exports in
foreign markets substantially equivalent to the com-
petitive opportunities afforded foreign exports in
United States markets and to achieve fairer and
more open conditions of trade in bulk and value-
added commodities by—
(A) reducing or eliminating, by a date cer-
tain, tariffs or other charges that decrease mar-
ket opportunities for United States exports—
(i) giving priority to those products
that are subject to significantly higher tar-
iffs or subsidy regimes of major producing
countries; and
(ii) providing reasonable adjustment
periods for United States import-sensitive
products;
(B) reducing or eliminating subsidies that
decrease market opportunities for United States
exports or unfairly distort agriculture markets
to the detriment of the United States;
(C) developing, strengthening, and clarify-
ing rules and effective dispute settlement mech-
anisms to eliminate practices that unfairly de-
crease United States market access opportuni-
ties or distort agricultural markets to the det-
riment of the United States, particularly with
respect to import-sensitive products, includ-
ing—
(i) unfair or trade-distorting activities
of state trading enterprises and other ad-
ministrative mechanisms;
(ii) unjustified trade restrictions or
commercial requirements affecting new
technologies, including biotechnology;
(iii) 
unjustified 
sanitary 
or
phytosanitary restrictions, including those
not based on sound science in contraven-
tion of the Uruguay Round Agreements;
(iv) other unjustified technical bar-
riers to trade; and
(v) restrictive rules in the administra-
tion of tariff rate quotas;
(D) improving import relief mechanisms to
recognize the unique characteristics of perish-
able agriculture;
(E) taking into account whether a party to
the negotiations has failed to adhere to the pro-
visions of already existing trade agreements
with the United States or has circumvented ob-
ligations under those agreements;
(F) taking into account whether a product
is subject to market distortions by reason of a
failure of a major producing country to adhere
to the provisions of already existing trade
agreements with the United States or by the
circumvention by that country of its obligations
under those agreements; and
(G) otherwise ensuring that countries that
accede to the World Trade Organization have
made meaningful market liberalization commit-
ments in agriculture.
(7) LABOR, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND OTHER
MATTERS.—The principal negotiating objective of
the United States regarding labor, the environment,
and other matters is to address the following aspects
of foreign government policies and practices regard-
ing labor, the environment, and other matters that
are directly related to trade:
(A) To ensure that foreign labor, environ-
mental, health, or safety policies and practices
do not arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate
or serve as disguised barriers to trade.
(B) To ensure that foreign governments do
not derogate from or waive existing domestic
environmental, health, safety, or labor meas-
ures, including measures that deter exploitative
child labor, as an encouragement to gain com-
petitive advantage in international trade or in-
vestment. Nothing in this subparagraph is in-
tended to address changes to a country’s laws
that are nondiscriminatory and consistent with
sound macroeconomic development.
(8) WTO 
EXTENDED
NEGOTIATIONS.—The
principal negotiating objectives of the United States
regarding trade in financial services are those set
forth in section 135(a) of the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3555(a)), regarding
trade in civil aircraft are those set forth in section
135(c) of that Act, and regarding rules of origin are
the conclusion of an agreement described in section
132 of that Act (19 U.S.C. 3552).
(c) INTERNATIONAL
ECONOMIC
POLICY
OBJEC-
TIVES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The President should take
into account the relationship between trade agree-
ments and other important priorities of the United
States and seek to ensure that the trade agreements
entered into by the United States complement and
reinforce other policy goals. The United States prior-
ities in this area include—
(A) seeking to ensure that trade and envi-
ronmental policies are mutually supportive;
(B) seeking to protect and preserve the en-
vironment and enhance the international means
for doing so, while optimizing the use of the
world’s resources;
(C) promoting the respect for worker
rights and the rights of children and an under-
standing of the relationship between trade and
worker rights, particularly by working with the
International Labor Organization to encourage
the observance and enforcing of core labor
standards, including exploitative child labor;
and
(D) 
supplementing 
and 
strengthening
standards for protection of intellectual property
under conventions administered by international
organizations other than the World Trade Or-
ganization, expanding the conventions to cover
new and emerging technologies, and eliminating
discrimination and unreasonable exceptions or
preconditions to such protection.
(2) APPLICABILITY
OF
TRADE
AUTHORITIES
PROCEDURES.—Nothing in this subsection shall be
construed to authorize the use of the trade authori-
ties procedures described in section 103 to modify
United States law.
(d) GUIDANCE FOR NEGOTIATORS.—
(1) DOMESTIC OBJECTIVES.—In pursuing the
negotiating objectives described in subsection (b),
the negotiators on behalf of the United States shall
take into account United States domestic objectives,
including the protection of health and safety, essen-
tial security, environmental, consumer, and employ-
ment opportunity interests, and the law and regula-
tions related thereto.
(2) CONSULTATIONS WITH CONGRESSIONAL AD-
VISERS AND ENFORCEMENT OF THE TRADE LAWS.—
In the course of negotiations conducted under this
title, the United States Trade Representative shall—
(A) consult closely and on a timely basis
with, and keep fully apprised of the negotia-
tions, the congressional advisers on trade policy
and negotiations appointed under section 161 of
the Trade Act of 1974; and
(B) take into account the need for the
United States to retain the ability to enforce
rigorously its trade laws in order to ensure that
United States workers, agricultural producers,
and firms can compete on fair terms and enjoy
the benefits of reciprocal trade concessions.
(e) ADHERENCE TO OBLIGATIONS UNDER URUGUAY
ROUND AGREEMENTS.—In determining whether to enter
into negotiations with a particular country, the President
shall take into account the extent to which that country
has implemented, or has accelerated the implementation
of, its obligations under the Uruguay Round Agreements.
SEC. 103. TRADE AGREEMENTS AUTHORITY.
(a) AGREEMENTS REGARDING TARIFF BARRIERS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the President de-
termines that one or more existing duties or other
import restrictions of any foreign country or the
United States are unduly burdening and restricting
the foreign trade of the United States and that the
purposes, policies, and objectives of this title will be
promoted thereby, the President—
(A) may enter into trade agreements with
foreign countries before—
(i) October 1, 2001, or
(ii) October 1, 2005, if trade authori-
ties procedures are extended under sub-
section (c), and
(B) may, subject to paragraphs (2) and
(3), proclaim—
(i) such modification or continuance
of any existing duty, or
(ii) such continuance of existing duty-
free or excise treatment,
as the President determines to be required or
appropriate to carry out any such trade agree-
ment. The President shall notify the Congress
of the President’s intention to enter into an
agreement under this subsection.
(2) LIMITATIONS.—No proclamation may be
made under paragraph (1) that—
(A) reduces any rate of duty (other than a
rate of duty that does not exceed 5 percent ad
valorem on the date of the enactment of this
Act) to a rate of duty which is less than 50 per-
cent of the rate of such duty that applies on
such date of enactment; or
(B) reduces the rate of duty on an article
to take effect on a date that is more than 10
years after the first reduction that is pro-
claimed to carry out a trade agreement with re-
spect to such article.
(3) AGGREGATE REDUCTION; EXEMPTION FROM
STAGING.—
(A) AGGREGATE REDUCTION.—Except as
provided in subparagraph (B), the aggregate re-
duction in the rate of duty on any article which
is in effect on any day pursuant to a trade
agreement entered into under paragraph (1)
shall not exceed the aggregate reduction which
would have been in effect on such day if—
(i) a reduction of 3 percent ad valo-
rem or a reduction of one-tenth of the total
reduction, whichever is greater, had taken
effect on the effective date of the first re-
duction proclaimed under paragraph (1) to
carry out such agreement with respect to
such article; and
(ii) a reduction equal to the amount
applicable under clause (i) had taken effect
at 1-year intervals after the effective date
of such first reduction.
(B) 
EXEMPTION
FROM
STAGING.—No
staging is required under subparagraph (A)
with respect to a duty reduction that is pro-
claimed under paragraph (1) for an article of a
kind that is not produced in the United States.
The United States International Trade Com-
mission shall advise the President of the iden-
tity of articles that may be exempted from stag-
ing under this subparagraph.
(4) ROUNDING.—If the President determines
that such action will simplify the computation of re-
ductions under paragraph (3), the President may
round an annual reduction by an amount equal to
the lesser of—
(A) the difference between the reduction
without regard to this paragraph and the next
lower whole number; or
(B) one-half of 1 percent ad valorem.
(5) OTHER LIMITATIONS.—A rate of duty re-
duction that may not be proclaimed by reason of
paragraph (2) may take effect only if a provision au-
thorizing such reduction is included within an imple-
menting bill provided for under section 105 and that
bill is enacted into law.
(6) OTHER TARIFF MODIFICATIONS.—Notwith-
standing paragraphs (1)(B) and (2) through (5),
and subject to the consultation and layover require-
ments of section 115 of the Uruguay Round Agree-
ments Act, the President may proclaim the modifica-
tion of any duty or staged rate reduction of any duty
set forth in Schedule XX, as defined in section 2(5)
of that Act, if the United States agrees to such
modification or staged rate reduction in a negotia-
tion for the reciprocal elimination or harmonization
of duties under the auspices of the World Trade Or-
ganization or as part of an interim agreement lead-
ing to the formation of a regional free-trade area.
(7) AUTHORITY
UNDER
URUGUAY
ROUND
AGREEMENTS ACT NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in this
subsection shall limit the authority provided to the
President under section 111(b) of the Uruguay
Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3521(b)).
(b) AGREEMENTS REGARDING TARIFF
AND NON-
TARIFF BARRIERS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—(A) Whenever the President
determines that—
(i) one or more existing duties or any other
import restriction of any foreign country or the
United States or any other barrier to, or other
distortion of, international trade unduly bur-
dens or restricts the foreign trade of the United
States or adversely affects the United States
economy, or
(ii) the imposition of any such barrier or
distortion is likely to result in such a burden,
restriction, or effect,
and that the purposes, policies, and objectives of this
title will be promoted thereby, the President may
enter into a trade agreement described in subpara-
graph (B) during the period described in subpara-
graph (C).
(B) The President may enter into a trade
agreement under subparagraph (A) with foreign
countries providing for—
(i) the reduction or elimination of a duty,
restriction, barrier, or other distortion described
in subparagraph (A), or
(ii) the prohibition of, or limitation on the
imposition of, such barrier or other distortion.
(C) The President may enter into a trade
agreement under this paragraph before—
(i) October 1, 2001, or
(ii) October 1, 2005, if trade authorities
procedures are extended under subsection (c).
(2) CONDITIONS.—A trade agreement may be
entered into under this subsection only if such
agreement makes progress in meeting the applicable
objectives described in section 102 and the President
satisfies the conditions set forth in section 104.
(3) BILLS QUALIFYING FOR TRADE AUTHORI-
TIES PROCEDURES.—The provisions of section 151
of the Trade Act of 1974 (in this title referred to
as ‘‘trade authorities procedures’’) apply to a bill of
either House of Congress consisting only of—
(A) a provision approving a trade agree-
ment entered into under this subsection and ap-
proving the statement of administrative action,
if any, proposed to implement such trade agree-
ment,
(B) provisions directly related to the prin-
cipal trade negotiating objectives set forth in
section 102(b) achieved in such trade agree-
ment, if those provisions are necessary for the
operation or implementation of United States
rights or obligations under such trade agree-
ment,
(C) provisions that define and clarify, or
provisions that are related to, the operation or
effect of the provisions of the trade agreement,
(D) provisions to provide adjustment as-
sistance to workers and firms adversely affected
by trade, and
(E) provisions necessary for purposes of
complying with section 252 of the Balanced
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of
1985 in implementing the trade agreement,
to the same extent as such section 151 applies to
implementing bills under that section. A bill to
which this subparagraph applies shall hereafter in
this title be referred to as an ‘‘implementing bill’’.
(c) EXTENSION DISAPPROVAL PROCESS FOR CON-
GRESSIONAL TRADE AUTHORITIES PROCEDURES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sec-
tion 105(b)—
(A) the trade authorities procedures apply
to implementing bills submitted with respect to
trade agreements entered into under subsection
(b) before October 1, 2001; and
(B) the trade authorities procedures shall
be extended to implementing bills submitted
with respect to trade agreements entered into
under subsection (b) after September 30, 2001,
and before October 1, 2005, if (and only if)—
(i) the President requests such exten-
sion under paragraph (2); and
(ii) neither House of the Congress
adopts an extension disapproval resolution
under paragraph (5) before October 1,
2001.
(2) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS
BY
THE
PRESI-
DENT.—If the President is of the opinion that the
trade authorities procedures should be extended to
implementing bills described in paragraph (1)(B),
the President shall submit to the Congress, not later
than July 1, 2001, a written report that contains
a request for such extension, together with—
(A) a description of all trade agreements
that have been negotiated under subsection (b)
and the anticipated schedule for submitting
such agreements to the Congress for approval;
(B) a description of the progress that has
been made in negotiations to achieve the pur-
poses, policies, and objectives of this title, and
a statement that such progress justifies the
continuation of negotiations; and
(C) a statement of the reasons why the ex-
tension is needed to complete the negotiations.
(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS BY THE ADVISORY
COMMITTEE.—The President shall promptly inform
the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Nego-
tiations established under section 135 of the Trade
Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155) of the President’s de-
cision to submit a report to the Congress under
paragraph (2). The Advisory Committee shall submit
to the Congress as soon as practicable, but not later
than August 1, 2001, a written report that con-
tains—