Title: Trade Security Act of 2019
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance

Summary:
Trade Security Act of 2019
This bill revises provisions related to the adjustment of U.S. imports due to a national security threat.
The bill allows Congress to block a presidential import adjustment through a joint resolution. This provision retroactively applies to adjustments made on or after July 1, 2018. However, it shall not apply to specified steel and aluminum import adjustments.
The Department of Defense (currently, the Department of Commerce) must
Commerce must provide recommendations regarding such imports upon request by the President.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 365 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 365

To amend section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to require the 
  Secretary of Defense to initiate investigations and to provide for 
 congressional disapproval of certain actions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 6, 2019

  Mr. Portman (for himself, Mr. Jones, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Alexander, Mrs. 
    Feinstein, Mrs. Fischer, Ms. Sinema, Mr. Young, and Mr. Wicker) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                          Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to require the 
  Secretary of Defense to initiate investigations and to provide for 
 congressional disapproval of certain actions, 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 ``Trade Security Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. INVESTIGATIONS TO DETERMINE EFFECTS ON NATIONAL SECURITY OF 
              IMPORTS OF ARTICLES AND CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF 
              PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS.

    (a) Investigations and Determinations by Secretary of Defense.--
Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
                        ``Secretary of Commerce'' and all that follows 
                        through ```Secretary')'' and inserting 
                        ``Secretary of Defense''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B)--
                                    (I) by striking ``Secretary shall'' 
                                and inserting ``Secretary of Defense 
                                shall''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``Secretary of 
                                Defense of'' and inserting ``Secretary 
                                of Commerce of'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by striking subparagraph (B);
                            (ii) in the matter preceding clause (i)--
                                    (I) by striking ``(A) In'' and 
                                inserting ``In''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``Secretary'' and 
                                inserting ``Secretary of Defense''; and
                            (iii) by striking clauses (i) through (iii) 
                        and inserting the following:
            ``(A) consult with the Secretary of Commerce regarding the 
        methodological and policy questions raised in any investigation 
        initiated under paragraph (1);
            ``(B) prepare an assessment of the defense requirements and 
        national security impact of any article that is the subject of 
        an investigation, which shall focus on--
                    ``(i) the impact of the importation of the article 
                on military readiness and critical infrastructure; and
                    ``(ii) the need for a reliable supply of the 
                article to protect national security;
            ``(C) seek information and advice from the Secretary of 
        Commerce;
            ``(D) consult with appropriate officers of the United 
        States;
            ``(E) consult with members of the Committee on Finance of 
        the Senate and members of the Committee on Ways and Means of 
        the House of Representatives; and
            ``(F) hold public hearings, co-chaired with the Department 
        of Commerce, or otherwise afford interested parties an 
        opportunity to present information and advice relevant to such 
        investigation.'';
                    (C) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 
                        subparagraph (D);
                            (ii) by striking subparagraph (A) and 
                        inserting the following:
    ``(A) Not later than 200 days after the date on which the Secretary 
of Defense initiates an investigation under paragraph (1) with respect 
to an article, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the President a 
report on the findings of such investigation with respect to the effect 
of the importation of such article in such quantities or under such 
circumstances on the national security of the United States.
    ``(B) If the report described in subparagraph (A) includes an 
affirmative finding that the importation of an article in such 
quantities or under such circumstances threatens to impair the national 
security, the President may direct the Secretary of Commerce to devise 
recommendations to address such threat.
    ``(C) Not later than 100 days after receiving from the President 
under subparagraph (B) a direction to devise recommendations with 
respect to an article, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with 
the United States Trade Representative, the Secretary of Defense, 
members of the Committee on Finance of the Senate, and members of the 
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, shall 
submit to the President a report that includes--
            ``(i) recommendations for action or inaction under this 
        section with respect to the article; and
            ``(ii) the findings of the Secretary of Commerce with 
        respect to the investigation by the Secretary of Defense under 
        paragraph (1).''; and
                            (iii) in subparagraph (D), as redesignated 
                        by subparagraph (C)--
                                    (I) by striking ``Secretary'' and 
                                inserting ``Secretary of Defense''; and
                                    (II) by inserting ``or the report 
                                submitted by the Secretary of Commerce 
                                under subparagraph (C)'' after 
                                ``subparagraph (A)''; and
                    (D) in paragraph (4), by inserting ``of Defense, in 
                consultation with the Secretary of Commerce,'' after 
                ``The Secretary'';
            (2) in subsection (c)(1), by striking subparagraph (A) and 
        inserting the following:
    ``(A) Not later than 60 days after receiving recommendations 
submitted under subsection (b)(3)(C)(i) with respect to an article, the 
President shall--
            ``(i) decide whether to take action based on such 
        recommendations; and
            ``(ii) if the President decides to take action under clause 
        (i), determine the nature and duration of the action to be 
        taken to adjust the imports of the article and its derivatives 
        so that such imports will not threaten to impair the national 
        security.'';
            (3) by redesignating the second subsection (d) as 
        subsection (e);
            (4) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) by striking ``the Secretary and the President'' 
                each place it appears and inserting ``the Secretary of 
                Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, and the 
                President''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``, the production of which is 
                needed for national defense requirements and critical 
                infrastructure in the United States'' after ``welfare 
                of individual domestic industries''; and
            (5) in subsection (e)(1), as redesignated by paragraph (3), 
        by striking ``Secretary'' and inserting ``Secretary of 
        Defense''.
    (b) Congressional Disapproval of Presidential Action.--Section 
232(f) of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862(f)) is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``of petroleum or 
        petroleum products''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2)(B)--
                    (A) by striking ``petroleum imports'' and inserting 
                ``imports''; and
                    (B) by striking ``of petroleum or petroleum 
                products''.
    (c) Applicability.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
        subsection (f) of section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 
        1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862), as amended by subsection (b), shall 
        apply to adjustments of imports under that section on or after 
        July 1, 2018.
            (2) Exception.--Subsection (f) of section 232 of the Trade 
        Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862), as amended by 
        subsection (b), shall not apply to the presidential actions 
        taken under that section on March 8, 2018, relating to the 
        adjustment of imports of steel and aluminum, or any subsequent 
        actions (including proclamations, Executive orders, or other 
        Executive acts) relating to those presidential actions.
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