IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 382 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States 
should reaffirm its commitment as a member of the World Trade Organi-
zation (WTO) and work with other WTO members to achieve reforms 
at the WTO that improve the speed and predictability of dispute settle-
ment, address longstanding concerns with the WTO’s Appellate Body, 
increase transparency at the WTO, ensure that WTO members invoke 
special and differential treatment reserved for developing countries only 
in fair and appropriate circumstances, and update the WTO rules to 
address the needs of the United States and other free and open econo-
mies in the 21st century. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 11, 2021 
Mr. KIND (for himself, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. BEYER, and Mr. FERGUSON) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Ways and Means 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the United States should reaffirm its commitment as 
a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and 
work with other WTO members to achieve reforms at 
the WTO that improve the speed and predictability of 
dispute settlement, address longstanding concerns with 
the WTO’s Appellate Body, increase transparency at the 
WTO, ensure that WTO members invoke special and 
differential treatment reserved for developing countries 
only in fair and appropriate circumstances, and update 
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•HRES 382 IH 
the WTO rules to address the needs of the United States 
and other free and open economies in the 21st century. 
Whereas the United States is an original member of the 
World Trade Organization (WTO) and a key architect of 
the institution; 
Whereas the WTO is a critical forum for strengthening the 
multilateral rules-based trading system and a bedrock of 
United States trade policy; 
Whereas the United States has provided the leadership and 
political will to advance the goal of the WTO to create 
and enforce rules that reduce obstacles to international 
trade that help ensure a level playing field; 
Whereas sustained United States leadership in the WTO pro-
vides best paths to achieve necessary WTO reforms, cre-
ate new trade rules that enhance opportunities for all, 
and address the needs and challenges of the United 
States and all other free and open economies in the 21st 
century; 
Whereas the United States recognizes the historic nature of 
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s selection as the WTO’s new 
Director-General as being both the first woman and first 
African to be chosen; 
Whereas the WTO recognizes that trade should be conducted 
with a view to raising standards of living, ensuring full 
employment and a large and steadily growing volume of 
real income and effective demand, expanding the produc-
tion of and trade in goods and services, optimally using 
the world’s resources in accordance with the objective of 
sustainable development, and seeking to protect and pre-
serve the environment; 
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Whereas the WTO is the preferred forum in which member 
economies resolve disputes that arise among them; 
Whereas the United States has consistently supported having 
a functional, efficient dispute settlement mechanism at 
the WTO that strictly follows the Dispute Settlement Un-
derstanding as agreed by all WTO members and remains 
accountable to WTO members; 
Whereas the United States, for decades, has sought to 
strengthen the WTO dispute settlement system by advo-
cating for necessary, thoughtful and prudent reforms; 
Whereas the United States has expressed longstanding con-
cerns that the WTO Appellate Body, through its findings 
and procedural liberties, is improperly adding to or di-
minishing the rights or obligations of WTO members; 
Whereas the United States has consistently urged the WTO 
to improve transparency by requiring that all dispute set-
tlement hearings at the WTO be open to the public, and 
all submissions by the parties be publicly available; 
Whereas, while several WTO members have joined the United 
States in agreeing to open hearings to the public and in 
making public submissions, most WTO Members continue 
to insist on closed hearings and confidential submissions; 
Whereas transparent WTO dispute settlement enhances WTO 
members’ understanding of the dispute settlement sys-
tem, particularly for those who do not participate often 
in the system; 
Whereas open dispute settlement promotes the accountability, 
professionalism, and impartiality of WTO adjudicators, to 
the benefit of the dispute settlement system as a whole; 
Whereas many WTO members have failed to meet basic noti-
fication obligations making it difficult and, in some cases, 
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impossible to monitor or determine their compliance with 
WTO obligations, including subsidies disciplines; 
Whereas the United States has encouraged, by proposing var-
ious incentives and administrative measures, better com-
pliance with notification obligations; 
Whereas the WTO allows members to self-identify as devel-
oping countries in order to receive special and differential 
treatment; 
Whereas some self-declared developing countries that are now 
advanced continue to demand the same special and dif-
ferential treatment intended for much smaller, less devel-
oped members, creating asymmetries that hinder the 
WTO from achieving meaningful outcomes in current and 
future negotiations; 
Whereas for over a decade, most WTO members have refused 
to engage in serious efforts to address longstanding 
United States calls for reform of dispute settlement and 
other important aspects of the WTO system; and 
Whereas WTO members are engaged in negotiations to re-
form the WTO and create new rules, including with re-
spect to fisheries subsidies and e-commerce: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) the United States should continue to lead 
reform efforts to ensure that the World Trade Orga-
nization (WTO) functions as agreed by the member-
ship and is updated appropriately for the 21st cen-
tury; and 
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(2) the United States should continue to urge 
other WTO members to work with the United States 
to achieve needed reforms so that the WTO and its 
members can address unjustified barriers to trade 
and promote economic norms that improve the 
standard of living across the world; and 
(3) the United States Trade Representative 
should continue to lead and work with other coun-
tries to pursue reforms at the WTO that— 
(A) address concerns with the WTO’s Ap-
pellate Body; 
(B) improve the efficiency and trans-
parency of dispute settlement proceedings; 
(C) remediate the failure to satisfy notifi-
cation obligations of the various WTO agree-
ments and develop accountability mechanisms 
to address this issue proactively; 
(D) discipline the use of special and dif-
ferential treatment for self-declared developing 
countries; 
(E) ensure there are platforms to discuss 
issues related to labor, the environment, and 
women’s economic empowerment; and 
(F) create new rules and structures that 
can serve the United States interests while pro-
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moting peace, prosperity, and open markets and 
societies. 
Æ 
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