Protecting IP Act of 2021
Bill: S.1924 | Sponsor: Sen. Daines, Steve (R-MT)
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance

Summary:
Protecting IP Act of 2021
This bill requires the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to enforce the actions related to intellectual property outlined in the Economic and Trade Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of China (dated January 15, 2020).
Such enforcement shall include civil, administrative, and criminal procedures and deterrent-level civil and criminal penalties as provided in the agreement. It shall also incorporate the USTR's authority to identify and take action against countries that deny (1) protection of intellectual property rights, or (2) market access to U.S. persons that rely upon intellectual property protection.

To direct the President to enforce the intellectual property provisions 
   of the Economic and Trade Agreement Between the Government of the 
  United States of America and the Government of China, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting IP Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. AGREEMENT DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``Agreement'' means the Economic and Trade 
Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and 
the Government of China, dated January 15, 2020.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Agreement includes significant mandates for the 
        People's Republic of China related to its domestic intellectual 
        property regime, including with respect to copyrights, 
        trademarks, trade secrets, and patents;
            (2) the changes included in the Agreement, if implemented 
        effectively, should improve the domestic intellectual property 
        framework of the People's Republic of China, which has 
        historically proven to harm the innovation and creative 
        communities in the United States;
            (3) despite commitments made by the Government of the 
        People's Republic of China under the Agreement, ongoing market 
        access barriers, uneven enforcement, measures requiring forced 
        technology transfer, and serious deficiencies in the rule of 
        law continue to make the business environment in the People's 
        Republic of China highly challenging for rights holders in the 
        United States;
            (4) as reflected in the 2021 report by the United States 
        Trade Representative required under section 182(h) of the Trade 
        Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242(h)) (commonly referred to as the 
        ``Special 301 Report''), the People's Republic of China has 
        consistently been listed in that annual report since 1989 as a 
        trading partner of the United States that ``fails to provide 
        adequate and effective IP protection and enforcement for U.S. 
        inventors, creators, brands, manufacturers, and service 
        providers, which, in turn, harm American workers''; and
            (5) Congress encourages the United States Trade 
        Representative, the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, 
        the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Commerce, 
        and the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark 
        Office--
                    (A) to use all available tools to ensure that the 
                People's Republic of China fully implements its 
                commitments under the Agreement; and
                    (B) to actively consider additional means to 
                require the People's Republic of China to address 
                unfair market access barriers, forced technology 
                transfer requirements, and broader intellectual 
                property theft concerns, including through future trade 
                agreements and working with partners in multilateral 
                organizations, such as the Group of 7 (G7), the Group 
                of 20 (G20), and the World Trade Organization.

SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROVISIONS OF ECONOMIC AND 
              TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED 
              STATES OF AMERICA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA.

    The President, acting through the United States Trade 
Representative, shall coordinate with the heads of such Federal 
agencies as the President considers appropriate to enforce the actions 
related to intellectual property laid out in the Agreement including--
            (1) the civil, administrative, and criminal procedures and 
        deterrent-level civil and criminal penalties provided in the 
        Agreement; and
            (2) by using the full enforcement authority of the 
        President, including any enforcement authority in connection 
        with the identification and reporting process under section 182 
        of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242).

SEC. 5. REPORT ON STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN OBLIGATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter, the United States 
Trade Representative shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
Congress a report on the status of the implementation by the People's 
Republic of China of its obligations under Chapter 1 of the Agreement.
    (b) Information in Report.--Each report required by subsection (a) 
shall contain information sufficient to enable the appropriate 
committees of Congress to assess the extent of the compliance by the 
People's Republic of China with the Agreement, including appropriate 
quantitative metrics.
    (c) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means the Committee on 
Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House 
of Representatives.
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