I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2734 
To require the Department of Commerce to address the trade deficits between 
the United States and other countries, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 25, 2017 
Ms. SLAUGHTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To require the Department of Commerce to address the 
trade deficits between the United States and other coun-
tries, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trade Enforcement 
and Trade Deficit Reduction Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The United States market is widely recog-
nized as one of the most open markets in the world. 
Average United States tariff rates are very low and 
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the United States has limited, if any, nontariff bar-
riers. 
(2) With each subsequent round of bilateral, re-
gional, and multilateral trade negotiations, tariffs 
have been significantly reduced or eliminated for 
many manufactured goods, leaving nontariff barriers 
as the most pervasive, significant, and challenging 
barriers to United States exports and market oppor-
tunities. 
(3) Often the only leverage the United States 
has to obtain the reduction or elimination of non-
tariff barriers imposed by foreign countries is to ne-
gotiate the amount of tariffs the United States im-
poses on imports from those foreign countries. 
(4) The United States has become the world’s 
largest net debtor nation, having run up massive 
trade deficits since the mid-1970s. 
(5) Every year since 1976, whether in expan-
sion or recession, the United States has run a deficit 
in goods and services trade, which weakens and de-
tracts from America’s global leadership position. 
(6) The United States trade deficit in 1993, the 
year before the North American Free Trade Agree-
ment (NAFTA) went into force, was $135.6 billion. 
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(7) In 2015, the United States had a deficit in 
the balance of trade in goods and services of $939.8 
billion. 
(8) In 2015, the United States had a trade def-
icit of $179 billion with countries with which it has 
free trade agreements. 
(9) Persistent deficits weaken the United States 
economy, defense industrial base, and innovation 
system and increase the likelihood of ownership of 
large segments of the United States economy by for-
eign interests. 
SEC. 3. WITHDRAWAL OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—If the Department of Commerce 
determines pursuant to subsection (c) that— 
(1) a tariff or nontariff barrier or policy or 
practice of the government of a foreign country with 
respect to United States exports of any product has 
not been reduced or eliminated in accordance with 
the terms of a trade agreement entered into between 
the United States and the foreign country; or 
(2) a tariff or nontariff barrier or policy or 
practice of such government with respect to United 
States exports of any product has been imposed or 
discovered, 
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the United States Trade Representative shall withdraw 
any modification of any duty that reduced or eliminated 
the bound or applied rate of duty on any product that 
has the same physical characteristics and uses as a prod-
uct described in paragraph (1) or (2) until such time as 
the Department of Commerce submits to Congress a cer-
tification that the foreign government has reduced or 
eliminated the tariff or nontariff barrier or policy or prac-
tice. 
(b) INVESTIGATION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Department of Com-
merce shall initiate an investigation if an interested 
party files a petition with the Department of Com-
merce which alleges the elements necessary for the 
withdrawal of the modification of an existing duty 
under subsection (a), and which is accompanied by 
information reasonably available to the petitioner 
supporting such allegations. 
(2) INTERESTED
PARTY
DEFINED.—For pur-
poses of paragraph (1), the term ‘‘interested party’’ 
means— 
(A) a manufacturer, producer, or whole-
saler in the United States of a domestic product 
that has the same physical characteristics and 
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uses as the product for which a modification of 
an existing duty is sought; 
(B) a certified union or recognized union 
or group of workers engaged in the manufac-
ture, production, or wholesale in the United 
States of a domestic product that has the same 
physical characteristics and uses as the product 
for which a modification of an existing duty is 
sought; 
(C) a trade or business association a ma-
jority of whose members manufacture, produce, 
or wholesale in the United States a domestic 
product that has the same physical characteris-
tics and uses as the product for which a modi-
fication of an existing duty is sought; or 
(D) a member of the Committee on Ways 
and Means of the House of Representatives or 
a member of the Committee on Finance of the 
Senate. 
(c) DETERMINATION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF COM-
MERCE.—Not later than 45 days after the date on which 
a petition is filed under subsection (b), the Department 
of Commerce shall— 
(1) determine whether the petition alleges the 
elements necessary for the withdrawal of the modi-
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fication of an existing duty under subsection (a); 
and 
(2) notify the petitioner of the determination 
under paragraph (1) and the reasons for the deter-
mination. 
SEC. 4. TRADE DEFICIT REDUCTION. 
(a) IDENTIFICATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, and monthly 
thereafter, the Department of Commerce shall iden-
tify each country from which the value of goods and 
services imported into the United States exceeds 
twice the value of goods and services that are prod-
ucts of the United States that are exported from the 
United States to that country. 
(2) STATISTICAL
SOURCES.—For purposes of 
the calculations described in this section, the De-
partment of Commerce shall use the goods and serv-
ices trade deficit data compiled by the United States 
International Trade Commission, specifically— 
(A) U.S. Imports for Consumption data, in 
the case of imports; and 
(B) U.S. Domestic Exports data, in the 
case of exports. 
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(3) EXCLUSION OF LEAST DEVELOPED COUN-
TRIES.—For purposes of this subsection, the term 
‘‘country’’ does not include a country that is identi-
fied on the most recent List of Least Developed 
Countries published by the United Nations Com-
mittee for Development Policy. 
(b) ACTION BY U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PRO-
TECTION.—In the case of a country which is identified 
under subsection (a) for six consecutive months, U.S. Cus-
toms and Border Protection shall bar the importation of 
products from a country identified under subsection (a), 
other than those granted a waiver under subsection (c), 
beginning 180 days after the date on which a determina-
tion is made under subsection (a) until such time that— 
(1) such country is no longer identified under 
subsection (a); or 
(2) the President has provided written notice to 
Congress of the President’s intention to enter into 
negotiations with such country to enter into a trade 
agreement, or changes to an existing trade agree-
ment, with such country pursuant to section 
105(a)(1)(A) of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade 
Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 
4204(a)(1)(A)). 
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(c) WAIVER.—A manufacturer, producer, or whole-
saler in the United States may apply to the Department 
of Commerce to allow the importation of a product from 
a country identified under subsection (a), which the De-
partment of Commerce shall grant— 
(1) if it is shown that such product is not avail-
able in sufficient quantities from other sources; and 
(2) for a period not to exceed one year. 
Æ 
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