I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 35
To provide a more effective remedy for inadequate trade benefits extended
to the United States by other countries and for restrictions on free
emigration imposed by other countries.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 7, 1997
Mr. BEREUTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To provide a more effective remedy for inadequate trade
benefits extended to the United States by other countries
and for restrictions on free emigration imposed by other
countries.
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 ‘‘Fair Trade Opportuni-
ties Act’’.
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.
It is the purpose of this Act to enable the President
to—
(1) remedy the actions or policies of countries
that do not accord adequate trade benefits to the
United States, including substantially equal competi-
tive opportunities for the commerce of the United
States;
(2) negotiate more equitable tariff and other
trade benefits for the people of the United States;
(3) sanction nonmarket economy countries that
deny or unduly restrict the right or opportunity of
their citizens to emigrate; and
(4) adjust and simplify the trade laws of the
United States to better respond to the realities of a
post-Cold War world.
SEC. 3. REPEAL OF JACKSON-VANIK.
(a) TITLE IV OF TRADE ACT OF 1974.—Title IV of
the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2431 and following),
and the items relating to title IV in the table of contents
of that Act, are repealed.
(b) HARMONIZED
TARIFF
SCHEDULE
OF
THE
UNITED STATES.—
General Note 3 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States is amended—
(1) in the matter that precedes subdivision
(a)—
(A) by striking ‘‘columns’’ and inserting
‘‘column’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘and 2’’; and
(2) by striking subdivision (b).
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The provisions of subsection
(a) and the amendments made by subsection (b) apply to
articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for con-
sumption, on or after the 15th day after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. OUTSTANDING TRADE AGREEMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any trade agreement that—
(1) was entered into by the United States under
title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 (as such title is
in effect on the day before the 15th day after the
date of the enactment of this Act), and
(2) is in effect on the day before such 15th day,
shall remain in effect until such agreement expires
or is terminated or otherwise suspended.
(b) OTHER AGREEMENTS.—Nothing in this Act shall
be deemed to alter, amend, or otherwise affect the terms
of any trade agreement entered into by the United States
pursuant to provisions other than such title IV of the
Trade Act of 1974.
SEC. 5. OTHER AUTHORITIES NOT AFFECTED.
Nothing in this Act shall affect—
(1) the authority of the United States Trade
Representative or the President to take action under
section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974; or
(2) the authorities of the President under other
provisions of law to increase duties on articles from
other countries, or to prohibit or impose other re-
strictions on imports of articles from other coun-
tries, including section 111(c) of the Uruguay
Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3521(c)), section
5(b) of the Trading with the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C.
App. 5(b)), section 203 of the International Emer-
gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702), and
sections 504(a) (22 U.S.C. 2349aa–8(a)) and 505(a)
(22 U.S.C. 2349aa–9(a)) of the International Secu-
rity and Development Cooperation Act of 1985.
SEC. 6. SNAP-BACK MECHANISM FOR NON-WTO MEMBERS.
(a) DETERMINATION WITH RESPECT TO NON-WTO
MEMBERS.—The President shall, after consulting with the
appropriate congressional committees, determine whether
or not each foreign country that is not a WTO member
is according adequate trade benefits to the United States,
including substantially equal competitive opportunities for
the commerce of the United States. The President shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees, not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, a report setting forth his determination with re-
spect to each foreign country that is not a WTO member,
together with the rationale for each determination.
(b) TARIFF INCREASE.—
(1) IMPOSITION OF INCREASE.—If the Presi-
dent determines under subsection (a) that a foreign
country is not according adequate trade benefits to
the United States, then the President shall proclaim,
within 180 days after the date of that determina-
tion, an increase in the rate of duty with respect to
one or more products of that country to not more
than the column 1 rate of duty under the Har-
monized Tariff Schedule of the United States that
applied to the article or articles on December 31,
1994.
(2) TERMINATION OF INCREASE.—The Presi-
dent shall terminate any increase in the rate of duty
imposed under paragraph (1) with respect to a coun-
try on the earlier of—
(A) the date the country becomes a WTO
member; or
(B) the date on which the President pro-
claims that the country is according adequate
trade benefits to the United States, including
substantially equal competitive opportunities for
the commerce of the United States.
(3) MODIFICATION OF TARIFF.—The President
may modify any increase in the rate of duty imposed
under paragraph (1) if he notifies the appropriate
congressional committees of the modification and the
reasons therefor, except that—
(A) the modification may not result in a
rate of duty more than that permitted under
paragraph (1); and
(B) the authority of this paragraph may
not be used to terminate an increase in the rate
of duty imposed under paragraph (1).
(c) RATE OF DUTY IN ABSENCE OF COMMERCIAL
AGREEMENT.—In the case of a country that is not a WTO
member and is not a party to a commercial agreement
with the United States that substantially meets the re-
quirements of section 405 of the Trade Act of 1974 (as
in effect on the day before the 15th day after the date
of the enactment of this Act), other than the requirement
that the agreement be limited to a period of not more than
3 years, the column 2 rate of duty under the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States shall apply to the
products of that country.
(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—
(1) the term ‘‘WTO member’’ means a state, or
separate customs territory (within the meaning of
Article XII of the WTO Agreement), with respect to
which the United States applies the WTO Agree-
ment; and
(2) the term ‘‘WTO Agreement’’ means the
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organiza-
tion entered into on April 15, 1994.
SEC. 7. OTHER AUTHORITY TO INCREASE TARIFFS.
(a) AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, the President is authorized to increase the
rate of duty on any product of a nonmarket economy coun-
try that is not a WTO member to not more than the col-
umn 1 rate of duty under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States that applied to that product on De-
cember 31, 1994, if that country—
(1) denies its citizens the right or opportunity
to emigrate;
(2) imposes more than a nominal tax on emi-
gration or on visas or other documents required for
emigration, for any purpose or cause whatsoever; or
(3) imposes more than a nominal tax, levy, fine,
fee, or other charge on any citizen as a consequence
of the desire of such citizen to emigrate to the coun-
try of his or her choice.
SEC. 8. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
(a) TRADE ACT OF 1974.—
(1) Section 151 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19
U.S.C. 2191) is amended—
(A) in subsection (a)(1)—
(i) by striking ‘‘approval resolutions
described in subsection (b)(3), and resolu-
tions described in subsections 152(a) and
153(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘and resolutions de-
scribed in section 152(a)’’;
(B) in subsection (b), by striking para-
graph (3);
(C) in subsection (c)—
(i) by striking ‘‘(c) INTRODUCTION
AND REFERRAL.—’’;
(ii) by moving the remaining text of
paragraph (1) 2 ems to the left;
(iii) by striking ‘‘(1) On the day’’
and inserting
‘‘(c) INTRODUCTION AND REFERRAL.—On the day’’;
and
(iv) by striking paragraph (2);
(D) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘or ap-
proval resolution’’; and
(E) in subsections (e), (f), and (g)—
(4) Section 154 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19
U.S.C. 2194) is amended—
(A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘203(b),
402(d), or 407(a) or (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘or
203(b)’’; and
(B) 
by 
striking 
‘‘sections 
203(c),
407(c)(2), and 407(c)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec-
tion 203(c)’’.
(b) OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW.—
(1) Section 330(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930
(19 U.S.C. 1330(d)) is amended—
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘to de-
termine—
‘‘(A) under’’
and all that follows through ‘‘and the commis-
sioners’’ and inserting ‘‘to determine, under
section 202 of the Trade Act of 1974, whether
increased imports of an article are a substantial
cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof, as
described in subsection (b)(1) of that section
(hereafter in this subsection referred to as ‘seri-
ous injury’), and the commissioners’’; and
(B) in paragraph (2)—
(i) by striking ‘‘or 406’’;
(ii) by striking ‘‘or market disruption
exists, respectively’’; and
(iii) by striking ‘‘or the finding under
section 406(a)(3) of such Act, as the case
may be’’.
(2) Section 1102(b)(1) of the Trade Agree-
ments Act of 1979 (19 U.S.C. 2581(b)(1)) is
amended by striking ‘‘301, or 406’’ and ‘‘2411, or
2436’’ and inserting ‘‘or 301’’ and ‘‘or 2411’’, re-
spectively.
(3) Section 2(c)(11) of the Support for East
European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 (22
U.S.C. 5401(c)(11)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(11) MOST-FAVORED-NATION
TRADE
STA-
TUS.—The granting of nondiscriminatory treatment
(most-favored-nation treatment) to the products of
an East European country.’’.
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