Digital Trade for Development Act
Bill: H.R.3052 | Sponsor: Rep. LaHood, Darin (R-IL)
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance

Summary:
Digital Trade for Development Act
This bill prohibits the President from designating any country as a beneficiary developing country if the country restricts digital trade to the detriment of U.S. development goals, strategic interests, or competitiveness. A country with such designation receives preferential trade treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences.
When designating any country as a beneficiary developing country, the President must, in addition to other factors, consider the extent to which such country has (1) refrained from imposing or eliminated digital trade barriers, and (2) taken steps to support consumer protections and the privacy of personal information online and to extend the benefits of digital trade to all.

To modify the bases for ineligibility for countries to benefit from the 
       Generalized System of Preferences, 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 ``Digital Trade for Development Act''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS TO AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE COUNTRIES.

    Section 502 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2462) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(2)--
                    (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) through (H) 
                as subparagraphs (E) through (I), respectively;
                    (B) in the matter following subparagraph (H), by 
                striking ``(D), (E), (F), (G), and (H) (to the extent 
                described in section 507(6)(D))'' and inserting ``(D), 
                (E), (F), (G), (H), and (I) (to the extent described in 
                section 507(6)(D))''; and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the 
                following new subparagraph:
                    ``(D) The President, acting through the United 
                States Trade Representative, determines that such 
                country restricts digital trade to the detriment of 
                United States development goals, strategic interests, 
                or competitiveness.''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking ``; and'' and 
                the end and inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(8) the extent to which, in the determination of the 
        President acting through the United States Trade 
        Representative, such country--
                    ``(A) has refrained from imposing, or has 
                eliminated, digital trade barriers, including 
                unnecessary data transfer restrictions and data 
                localization mandates; and
                    ``(B) has taken steps to support consumer 
                protections and the privacy of personal information 
                online and to extend the benefits of digital trade to 
                all.''.
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