SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP Act
Bill: S.4450 | Sponsor: Sen. Portman, Rob (R-OH)
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance

Summary:
Securing Privileged Economic, Commercial, Investment, And Legal Rights to Ensure Longstanding Atlantic Trade and Investment Opportunities and Nurture Security, Happiness, Innovation, and Prosperity Act or the SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP Act
This bill grants certain authorities to the President for entering into a comprehensive trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom (UK).
Specifically, the bill directs the President to initiate negotiations with the UK regarding tariff and nontariff barriers affecting any industry, product, or service sector.
The bill authorizes the President to enter into a comprehensive trade agreement with the UK, with such authority expiring on July 1, 2027. Further, the President may proclaim a modification or continuance of any existing duty or continuance of existing excise or duty-free treatment to carry out an agreement, with certain limitations.
The bill also requires the President to consult with and notify Congress regarding the intention of the President to enter into an agreement or make a proclamation.

To provide the President with authority to enter into a comprehensive 
    trade agreement with the United Kingdom, 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 ``Securing Privileged Economic, 
Commercial, Investment, And Legal Rights to Ensure Longstanding 
Atlantic Trade and Investment Opportunities and Nurture Security, 
Happiness, Innovation, and Prosperity Act'' or the ``SPECIAL 
RELATIONSHIP Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) In General.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) more open trade and investment relationships with 
        allies of the United States serve to strengthen the economy of 
        the United States, improve the well-being of the people of the 
        United States, and advance the strategic interests of the 
        United States;
            (2) agreements to reduce or eliminate barriers to trade and 
        investment between the United States and its allies will foster 
        mutually beneficial economic relationships that advance the 
        economic interests of workers, farmers, ranchers, and 
        businesses of all sizes in the United States;
            (3) the shared values and long history of the ``special 
        relationship'' between the United States and the United Kingdom 
        present an opportunity to deepen the mutually beneficial 
        economic relationship between those countries and further 
        expand prosperity for the citizens of those countries;
            (4) a high-standard, comprehensive trade agreement between 
        the United States and the United Kingdom would help achieve 
        those aims and be in the national interest of the United 
        States;
            (5) the efforts of the United States-United Kingdom Trade 
        and Investment Working Group and the bilateral negotiations 
        initiated by President Donald Trump have laid groundwork toward 
        a comprehensive trade agreement;
            (6) The United States-United Kingdom Dialogue on the Future 
        of Atlantic Trade initiated by President Joe Biden continues 
        longstanding efforts to improve economic cooperation between 
        the United States and the United Kingdom;
            (7) the robust labor and environmental protections in the 
        United Kingdom reduce the risk of regulatory arbitrage that 
        undercuts workers and businesses in the United States;
            (8) the USMCA, which was passed with overwhelming 
        bipartisan support, set high standards in North America with 
        respect to labor rights, the environment, intellectual 
        property, non-market practices, and services, and those 
        standards should inform future negotiations;
            (9) trade agreements with foreign trading partners that 
        share the values and ambition of the United States offer an 
        opportunity to build on the USMCA and set high international 
        standards across many important policy areas;
            (10) any trade agreement between the United States and the 
        United Kingdom must uphold the agreement between the Government 
        of Ireland and the Government of the United Kingdom signed on 
        April 10, 1998 (commonly known as the ``Good Friday 
        Agreement''), and support continued peace and stability in 
        Ireland and Northern Ireland; and
            (11) to effectively pursue comprehensive trade negotiations 
        with the United Kingdom for purposes of a trade agreement 
        between the United States and the United Kingdom, Congress must 
        grant new negotiating authority to the President, which 
        should--
                    (A) enable the swift negotiation and passage 
                through Congress of such an agreement; and
                    (B) be narrowly tailored to provide clear direction 
                to the executive branch of the United States 
                Government.
    (b) USMCA Defined.--In this section, the term ``USMCA'' means the 
Agreement between the United States of America, the United Mexican 
States, and Canada, which is--
            (1) attached as an Annex to the Protocol Replacing the 
        North American Free Trade Agreement with the Agreement between 
        the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and 
        Canada, done at Buenos Aires on November 30, 2018, as amended 
        by the Protocol of Amendment to the Agreement Between the 
        United States of America, the United Mexican States, and 
        Canada, done at Mexico City on December 10, 2019; and
            (2) approved by Congress under section 101(a)(1) of the 
        United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act (19 
        U.S.C. 4511(a)).

SEC. 3. NEGOTIATING AND TRADE AGREEMENTS AUTHORITY FOR COMPREHENSIVE 
              AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED KINGDOM.

    (a) Initiation of Negotiations.--In order to enhance the economic 
well-being of the United States, the President shall initiate 
negotiations with the United Kingdom regarding tariff and nontariff 
barriers affecting any industry, product, or service sector.
    (b) Authority for Agreement.--
            (1) In general.--To strengthen the economic competitiveness 
        of the United States, the President may enter into a 
        comprehensive trade agreement with the United Kingdom regarding 
        tariff and nontariff barriers affecting any industry, product, 
        or service sector.
            (2) Termination of authority.--The authority under 
        paragraph (1) terminates on July 1, 2027.
    (c) Modifications Permitted.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the President 
        may proclaim such modification or continuance of any existing 
        duty, continuance of existing duty-free or excise treatment, or 
        such additional duties as the President determines to be 
        required or appropriate to carry out an agreement entered into 
        under subsection (b).
            (2) Limitations.--
                    (A) Modifications or additions to agreement.--
                Substantial modifications to, or substantial additional 
                provisions of, an agreement entered into after July 1, 
                2027, are not covered by the authority under paragraph 
                (1).
                    (B) Amount of duty modification.--No proclamation 
                may be made under paragraph (1) that--
                            (i) reduces any rate of duty (other than a 
                        rate of duty that does not exceed 5 percent ad 
                        valorem on the date of the enactment of this 
                        Act) to a rate of duty that is less than 50 
                        percent of the rate of such duty that applies 
                        on such date of enactment;
                            (ii) reduces the rate of duty below that 
                        applicable under the Uruguay Round Agreements 
                        (as defined in section 2(7) of the Uruguay 
                        Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501)) or a 
                        successor agreement, on any import sensitive 
                        agricultural product; or
                            (iii) increases any rate of duty above the 
                        rate that applied on the date of the enactment 
                        of this Act.
    (d) Consultation With and Notification to Congress.--The President 
shall consult with Congress regarding, and notify Congress of, the 
intention of the President to enter into an agreement under subsection 
(b) or to make a proclamation under subsection (c).
    (e) Bills Qualifying for Trade Authorities Procedures.--
            (1) Implementing bills.--
                    (A) In general.--The provisions of section 151 of 
                the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2191) apply to a bill 
                of either House of Congress that contains provisions 
                described in subparagraph (B) to the same extent as 
                such section 151 applies to implementing bills under 
                that section. A bill to which this paragraph applies 
                shall hereafter in this section be referred to as an 
                ``implementing bill''.
                    (B) Provisions specified.--The provisions described 
                in this subparagraph are--
                            (i) a provision approving a trade agreement 
                        entered into under this section and approving 
                        the statement of administrative action, if any, 
                        proposed to implement such trade agreement; and
                            (ii) if changes in existing laws or new 
                        statutory authority are required to implement 
                        such trade agreement, only such provisions as 
                        are strictly necessary or appropriate to 
                        implement such trade agreement, either 
                        repealing or amending existing laws or 
                        providing new statutory authority.
            (2) Deadline for submission of bill.--The procedures under 
        paragraph (1) apply to implementing bills submitted with 
        respect to a trade agreement entered into under this section 
        before July 1, 2027.
    (f) Limitation on Termination.--An agreement entered into under 
this section shall not terminate with respect to the United States 
without the express approval by Congress of such termination.
    (g) Relationship to Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and 
Accountability Act of 2015.--An agreement under this section shall not 
enter into force with respect to the United States and an implementing 
bill shall not qualify for trade authorities procedures under 
subsection (e), including an agreement that does not require changes to 
United States law or an implementing bill in connection therewith, 
unless the following requirements under the Bipartisan Congressional 
Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4201 et 
seq.) are carried out with respect to that agreement or implementing 
bill to the same extent as would be required of an agreement entered 
into under section 103(b) of that Act (19 U.S.C. 4202(b)), 
notwithstanding the expiration of authority to enter into an agreement 
under such section 103(b):
            (1) The trade negotiating objectives under section 102 of 
        that Act (19 U.S.C. 4201).
            (2) The congressional oversight and consultation 
        requirements under section 104 of that Act (19 U.S.C. 4203).
            (3) The notification, consultation, and reporting 
        requirements under section 105 of that Act (19 U.S.C. 4204).
            (4) The implementation procedures under section 106 of that 
        Act (19 U.S.C. 4205).
            (5) The provisions related to sovereignty under section 108 
        of that Act (19 U.S.C. 4207).
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