of a foreign nation on the ground of inconvenient 
forum; or 
(7) supersede or modify any statutory or com-
mon law, including any law providing for an action 
to abate a nuisance, that authorizes a person to in-
stitute an action for civil damages or civil penalties, 
cleanup costs, injunctions, restitution, cost recovery, 
punitive damages, or any other form of relief, for re-
mediation of the environment (as defined in section 
101(8) of the Comprehensive Environmental Re-
sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 
U.S.C. 9601(8))). 
SEC. 204. LIABILITY RULES APPLICABLE TO PRODUCT 
SELLERS, RENTERS, AND LESSORS. 
(a) GENERAL RULE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In any product liability ac-
tion covered under this title, a product seller other 
than a manufacturer shall be liable to a claimant 
only if the claimant establishes that—
(A)(i) the product that allegedly caused the 
harm that is the subject of the complaint was 
sold, rented, or leased by the product seller; 
(ii) the product seller failed to exercise rea-
sonable care with respect to the product; and
(iii) the failure to exercise reasonable care 
was a proximate cause of the harm to the 
claimant; 
(B)(i) the product seller made an express 
warranty applicable to the product that alleg-
edly caused the harm that is the subject of the 
complaint, independent of any express warranty 
made by a manufacturer as to the same prod-
uct; 
(ii) the product failed to conform to the 
warranty; and 
(iii) the failure of the product to conform 
to the warranty caused the harm to the claim-
ant; or 
(C)(i) the product seller engaged in inten-
tional wrongdoing, as determined under applica-
ble State law; and 
(ii) the intentional wrongdoing caused the 
harm that is the subject of the complaint. 
(2) REASONABLE
OPPORTUNITY
FOR
INSPEC-
TION.—For purposes of paragraph (1)(A)(ii), a 
product seller shall not be considered to have failed 
to exercise reasonable care with respect to a product 
based upon an alleged failure to inspect the product, 
if—
(A) the failure occurred because there was 
no reasonable opportunity to inspect the prod-
uct; or 
(B) the inspection, in the exercise of rea-
sonable care, would not have revealed the as-
pect of the product that allegedly caused the 
claimant’s harm. 
(b) SPECIAL RULE.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—A product seller shall be 
deemed to be liable as a manufacturer of a product 
for harm caused by the product, if—
(A) the manufacturer is not subject to 
service of process under the laws of any State 
in which the action may be brought; or 
(B) the court determines that the claimant 
is or would be unable to enforce a judgment 
against the manufacturer. 
(2) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—For purposes 
of this subsection only, the statute of limitations ap-
plicable to claims asserting liability of a product sell-
er as a manufacturer shall be tolled from the date 
of the filing of a complaint against the manufacturer 
to the date that judgment is entered against the 
manufacturer. 
(c) RENTED OR LEASED PRODUCTS.—
(1) DEFINITION.—For purposes of paragraph 
(2), and for determining the applicability of this title 
to any person subject to that paragraph, the term 
‘‘product liability action’’ means a civil action 
brought on any theory for harm caused by a product 
or product use. 
(2) LIABILITY.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, any person engaged in the business 
of renting or leasing a product (other than a person 
excluded from the definition of product seller under 
section 202(13)(B)) shall be subject to liability in a 
product liability action under subsection (a), but any 
person engaged in the business of renting or leasing 
a product shall not be liable to a claimant for the 
tortious act of another solely by reason of ownership 
of that product. 
SEC. 205. FEDERAL CAUSE OF ACTION PRECLUDED. 
The district courts of the United States shall not 
have jurisdiction under this title based on section 1331 
or 1337 of title 28, United States Code. 
TITLE III—EFFECTIVE DATE 
SEC. 301. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act shall take effect with respect to any civil 
action commenced after the date of the enactment of this
Act without regard to whether the harm that is the subject 
of the action occurred before such date.
Æ