zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Compact-Impact Reimbursement Act of 2013 - Amends the Compact of Free Association Act of 1985 to authorize and appropriate FY2013 funds to the Secretary of the Interior for: (1) grants to any local government of the United States that demonstrates financial strain due to demands on public services by significant immigration from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau; and (2) aid in defraying costs incurred as a result of increased demands placed on health, educational, social, or public safety services, or infrastructure related to such services due to the residence of qualified nonimmigrants.

Directs the Secretary to provide for periodic enumerations of qualified nonimmigrants in the states and territories of the United States.

Defines "qualified nonimmigrant" as a person admitted to the United States pursuant to: (1) section 141 of the Compact of Free Association set forth in title II, or (2) section 141 of the Compact of Free Association between the United States and the government of Palau.

Date: 2013-03-15
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Playing Fair on Trade and Innovation Act - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to revise Generalized System of Preferences Program eligibility requirements.

Prohibits the President from designating a country a beneficiary developing country in order for its products to receive duty-free treatment if that country: (1) fails to provide adequate protection for intellectual property rights; and (2) maintains local content requirements, other than requirements applicable only to the procurement of products by governmental agencies and not with a view to commercial resale or to use in the production of goods for commercial sale.

Date: 2013-09-20
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Reciprocal Market Access Act of 2013 - Prohibits the President from agreeing to the reduction or elimination of the existing rate of duty on any product in order to carry out a trade agreement with a foreign country until the President certifies to Congress that: (1) the United States has obtained that country's reduction or elimination of tariff and nontariff barriers and policies and practices with respect to U.S. exports of any product that has the same physical characteristics and uses as the product for which the President seeks to modify its rate of duty, and (2) any violation of the trade agreement is immediately enforceable by withdrawal of the duty modification until the President certifies to Congress that the United States has obtained the country's reduction or elimination of the tariff or nontariff barrier or policy or practice.

Requires the withdrawal of such a modification in specified circumstances determined by the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center until the President makes such a certification to Congress.

Requires the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), with respect to any proposed trade agreement that seeks a modification that would reduce or eliminate an existing duty on any product in order to carry out a trade agreement with a foreign country, to investigate the possible market access opportunities for similar U.S. exports to that country if such barriers and policies are modified or eliminated.

Date: 2013-11-13
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act of 2014 - States the overall trade negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to any agreement with a foreign country to reduce or eliminate existing tariffs or nontariff barriers of that country or the United States that are unduly burdening and restricting U.S. trade. Includes among such objectives obtaining: (1) more open, equitable, and reciprocal market access; and (2) the reduction or elimination of trade barriers and distortions that are directly related to trade and investment and that decrease market opportunities for U.S. exports or otherwise distort U.S. trade.

States the principal trade negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to: (1) goods and services; (2) agriculture; (3) foreign investment; (5) intellectual property; (6) digital goods and services, as well as cross-border data flows; (7) regulatory practices; (8) state-owned and state-controlled enterprises; (9) localization barriers to trade; (10) labor and the environment; (11) currency; (12) the World Trade Organization and multilateral trade agreements; (13) trade institution transparency; (14) anti-corruption; (15) dispute settlement and enforcement; (16) trade remedy laws; (17) border taxes; and (18) textile negotiations.

Authorizes the President to enter into trade agreements with foreign countries for the reduction or elimination of tariff or nontariff barriers before July 1, 2018, or July 1, 2021, if trade authorities procedures are extended to implementing bills (congressional approval) with respect to such agreements.

Authorizes the President to proclaim necessary or appropriate modifications or continuation of any existing duty, continuation of existing duty-free or excise treatment, or additional duties to carry out any such agreement.

Subjects trade agreements to congressional oversight and approval, consultations, and access to information requirements.

Specifies presidential notifications and other actions and their deadlines that must take place for any trade agreement to enter into force.

Prescribes requirements for the treatment of trade agreements entered into under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO) or with the Trans-Pacific Partnership countries or the European Union (EU) which result from negotiations commenced before enactment of this Act.

Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) should facilitate participation of small businesses in the trade negotiation process.

Date: 2014-01-09
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
American Job Creation and Strategic Alliances LNG Act - Amends the Natural Gas Act to deem consistent with the public interest an expedited application and approval process for the importation or exportation of natural gas to a World Trade Organization country.

Date: 2014-03-04
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Energy
Trade Adjustment Assistance Act of 2014 - Amends the Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011 to repeal the declaration that trade adjustment assistance (TAA) program requirements in effect as of February 13, 2011, under the Trade Act of 1974 shall apply to petitions for certification to apply for TAA for workers, firms, and farmers that are filed before January 1, 2014.

Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend through December 31, 2020: (1) the TAA program, and (2) the reemployment trade adjustment assistance (RTAA) program.

Makes funds available through FY2020, and for the period beginning October 1-December 31, 2020 (first quarter of FY2021), for training of adversely affected workers, employment and case management services, and job search expenses and relocation expenses.

Reauthorizes appropriations: (1) through December 31, 2020, for the TAA program for workers; and (2) through FY2020, and for the first quarter of FY2021, for the TAA program for firms, communities, and farmers.

Prescribes TAA eligibility requirements for adversely affected workers in public agencies.

Revises trade readjustment allowance (TRA) program requirements.

Limits to 130 weeks the length of TRA payments for an adversely affected worker who requires a program of remedial education or of prerequisite education in order to complete approved training.

Increases from 65 to 78 additional weeks of TRA payments in a 78-week period the length of additional time permissible to complete training.

Repeals the authority of a state to use funds for employment and case management services and relocation allowances to allow an adversely affected worker who is certified to file an application for a job search allowance and relocation allowance. (Continues to authorize adversely affected workers to apply for the job search allowance as well as the relocation allowance.)

Revises the reemployment trade adjustment assistance (RTAA) program.

Increases from: (1) $50,000 to $55,000 the maximum amount an RTAA-eligible worker may earn in wages from reemployment, and (2) $10,000 to $12,000 the maximum payment of RTAA (or wage subsidy) to an eligible older worker.

Specifies criteria the Secretary must use to determine the eligibility of workers to apply for TAA if no determination has been made, upon enactment of this Act, as to whether to certify a group of workers or firms as eligible pursuant to a petition filed between January 1, 2014, and enactment of this Act. Requires the Secretary to reconsider any determination made before enactment of this Act not to certify such workers or firms, and to certify them as eligible if they meet the specified requirements.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through calendar 2021, and increase from 72.5% to 80%, the tax credit for the health insurance coverage costs of Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) pension and TAA recipients and their dependents.

Date: 2014-03-06
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Prohibits the use of funds appropriated for FY2015 or any ensuing fiscal year for negotiating a trade agreement that includes a waiver of Buy American Act requirements.

Date: 2014-12-11
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Innovation Through Trade Act of 2013 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to revise the composition of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to include one Chief Innovation and Intellectual Property Negotiator, who shall: (1) be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and (2) conduct trade negotiations and enforce trade agreements with respect to U.S. intellectual property as well as take appropriate actions to address foreign acts, policies, and practices that have a significant adverse impact on the value of U.S. innovation.

Date: 2013-03-22
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) through September 30, 2015.

Amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) to extend certain customs users fees for certain customs services performed through January 21, 2022, and for other specified customs services performed through January 28, 2022.

Prescribes a formula for required estimated corporate tax payments otherwise due in each of the quarters of 2018 from corporations with assets of at least $1 billion.

Date: 2013-07-18
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2013 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend through December 31, 2020: (1) the trade adjustment assistance (TAA) program, and (2) the reemployment trade adjustment assistance (RTAA) program.

Makes funds available through FY2020, and for the period beginning October 1-December 31, 2020 (first quarter of FY2021) for training of adversely affected workers, employment and case management services, and job search expenses and relocation expenses.

Reauthorizes appropriations: (1) through December 31, 2020, for the TAA program for workers; and (2) through FY2020, and for the first quarter of FY2021, for the TAA program for firms and farmers.

 Amends the Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011 to declare that TAA program requirements in effect as of February 13, 2011, under the Trade Act of 1974 shall apply to petitions for certification to apply for TAA for workers, firms, and farmers that are filed before January 1, 2021.

Date: 2013-07-24
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Future of American Innovation and Research Act of 2013 or the FAIR Act - Authorizes the owner or lawful possessor of a covered trade secret (that is related to or included in a product or service that is used in or reasonably anticipated to be used in interstate or foreign commerce) to bring a civil action in a U.S. district court against a person (including a legal or commercial entity) who misappropriates, threatens to misappropriate, or conspires to misappropriate such trade secret: (1) while located outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States; or (2) on behalf of, or for the benefit of, a person located outside such territorial jurisdiction.

Defines "misappropriate" as the acquisition or disclosure of a trade secret under specified circumstances through improper means, including theft, bribery, misrepresentation, breach or inducement of a breach of a duty to maintain secrecy, and espionage through electronic means. Excludes reverse engineering or independent derivation from the categories of improper means when such activity alone is the only alleged conduct.

Permits an action to arise from conduct outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States if the conduct, either by itself or in combination with conduct within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, causes or is reasonably anticipated to cause an injury: (1) within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or (2) to a U.S. person.

Provides for an affirmative defense to such an action if each alleged trade secret in dispute was readily ascertainable through proper means by other persons who did not already know the trade secret at the time of the alleged conduct.

Authorizes a court, upon an ex parte application, to order the seizure of any property used to commit or facilitate specified conduct alleged in the civil action.

Date: 2013-11-21
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Commerce
Digital Trade Act of 2013 - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) executive branch agencies, including the Office of the United States Trade Representative, should be staffed with experts and leaders to promote an open, global Internet that facilitates commerce and digital trade; and (2) private sector stakeholders should have the opportunity to inform executive agency efforts related to digital trade.

States that it shall be a U.S. negotiating principle in negotiations for a bilateral, plurilateral, or multilateral agreement, and in multi-stakeholder fora, to seek the inclusion of binding provisions that promote and enhance Internet-enabled commerce and digital trade.

Date: 2013-12-10
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
American Job Creation and Strategic Alliances LNG Act - Amends the Natural Gas Act to deem consistent with the public interest an expedited application and approval process for the importation or exportation of natural gas to a World Trade Organization member country.

Date: 2014-03-05
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Energy
Foreign Counterfeit Merchandise Prevention Act

Amends the federal criminal code to provide that it shall not be a violation of the prohibition against a federal employee disclosing trade secrets or other confidential or proprietary information for an officer or employee of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP): (1) upon detention and thereafter, to provide the owner of a copyright or a registered mark or any person who may be injured by a circumvention of copyright protection systems with any information appearing on the merchandise, including its retail packaging, or a sample or image of such merchandise and its retail packaging, for the purposes of determining whether the merchandise or its packaging infringes the copyright, bears or consists of a counterfeit mark of the registered mark, or is a violation of copyright protection systems; or (2) after seizing merchandise determined to be in violation of copyright protection systems, to provide certain information to persons injured by such violation, including the date of importation, the port of entry, a description of the merchandise, the country of origin of the merchandise, the names and addresses of the foreign manufacturer, the exporter, and the importer, and a photographic or digital image of the merchandise.

Applies such exemption only with respect to tangible goods presented to the CBP for importation into, or exportation from, the United States.

Amends the Lanham Act to direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to record and transmit to customs officers any contact information, documentation of the locality in which goods were manufactured, and copies of trademark registrations furnished by domestic or eligible foreign manufacturers or traders for the purpose of aiding the enforcement of a prohibition on the importation of goods bearing infringing marks or names. (Currently, such activities are performed by the Department of the Treasury.)

Requires DHS, if the CBP detains critical merchandise bearing a DHS-recorded registered trademark, to provide the trademark owner any information on such critical merchandise and its packaging and labels, including, without redaction, photographs or digital images, packaging, and labels. Permits the Secretary, subject to any bonding and return requirements, to provide the owner samples of the critical merchandise without redaction.

Defines "critical merchandise" to include: (1) aircraft engines, appliances, propellers, and spare parts; (2) motor vehicle equipment; (3) semiconductors; and (4) any other article of manufacture that the Secretary determines could, if permitted entry into the United States in violation of the U.S. laws, pose a danger to the health, safety, or welfare of consumers, or to the national security of the United States.

Applies such Lanham Act amendments only with respect to tangible goods presented to the CBP for importation into the United States.

Date: 2015-01-09
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
American Job Creation and Strategic Alliances LNG Act

 Amends the Natural Gas Act to deem consistent with the public interest an expedited application and approval process for the importation or exportation of natural gas to a World Trade Organization member nation.

Date: 2015-01-13
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Energy
Reciprocal Market Access Act of 2015 

 Prohibits the President from agreeing to the reduction or elimination of the existing rate of duty on any product in order to carry out a trade agreement with a foreign country until the President certifies to Congress that: (1) the United States has obtained that country's reduction or elimination of tariff and nontariff barriers and policies and practices with respect to U.S. exports of any product that has the same physical characteristics and uses as the product for which the President seeks to modify its rate of duty, and (2) any violation of the trade agreement is immediately enforceable by withdrawal of the duty modification until the President certifies to Congress that the United States has obtained the country's reduction or elimination of the tariff or nontariff barrier or policy or practice.

Requires the withdrawal of such a modification in specified circumstances determined by the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center until the President makes such a certification to Congress.

Requires the U.S. International Trade Commission , with respect to any proposed trade agreement that seeks a modification that would reduce or eliminate an existing duty on any product in order to carry out a trade agreement with a foreign country, to investigate the possible market access opportunities for similar U.S. exports to that country if such barriers and policies are modified or eliminated.

Date: 2015-02-05
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Compact-Impact Reimbursement Act of 2015 

Amends the Compact of Free Association Act of 1985 to authorize and appropriate FY2015 funds to the Secretary of the Interior for: (1) grants to any local government of the United States that demonstrates financial strain due to demands on public services by significant immigration from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau; and (2) aid in defraying costs incurred as a result of increased demands placed on health, educational, social, or public safety services, or infrastructure related to such services due to the residence of qualified nonimmigrants.

Directs the Secretary to provide for periodic enumerations of qualified nonimmigrants in the states and territories of the United States.

Defines "qualified nonimmigrant" as a person admitted to the United States pursuant to: (1) section 141 of the Compact of Free Association set forth in title II, or (2) section 141 of the Compact of Free Association between the United States and the government of Palau.

Date: 2015-02-10
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Protecting America's Sovereignty Act

Prohibits the President from entering into any free trade agreement or investment treaty with a foreign country or countries that grants foreign investors the right to access an international tribunal to seek cash damages from or injunctive relief against the U.S. government if such investors believe that U.S. actions are in breach of rights conferred on foreign investors in the agreement or treaty.

Date: 2015-02-13
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: International affairs
Balancing Trade Act of 2015

 Requires the President, if in three consecutive calendar years the United States has a trade deficit with another country of $10 billion or more, to take the necessary steps to create a trading relationship that would eliminate or substantially reduce that trade deficit by entering into an agreement with that country.

Date: 2015-03-17
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Truth, Transparency, Accountability, and Fairness in Trade Act

This bill amends the Trade Act of 1974 to require the Department of Labor to make a joint annual report to Congress with the U.S. International Trade Commission on the operation of the trade agreements program during the preceding calendar year, including specified information about each free trade agreement in effect.

Any free trade agreement or portion of it that provides for the termination of portions shall cease to be effective with respect to the United States if annual reports on it show as a result of the agreement or a portion of it any:

 export disruption (declining U.S. exports to, and rising U.S. imports from, a country party to the agreement), either overall or for a specific commodity or industry, in three consecutive calendar years or in three calendar years during a consecutive five-calendar year period; labor disruption (an increase of 5% or more in the number of applications for adjustment assistance for workers and firms), either overall or with respect to a specific good or industry, in each of three consecutive calendar years or in each of three calendar years during a consecutive five-calendar year period; or trade balance disruption (an increase of 5% or more in the U.S. trade deficit in goods with respect to a country party to the agreement) in each of three consecutive calendar years or in each of three calendar years during a consecutive five-calendar year period. A termination bill, relating to such circumstances, must be enacted into law to effect a termination of the free trade agreement or a portion of it.

Fast track procedures are prescribed for congressional consideration of a termination bill.

The United States Trade Representative shall:

 take specified enforcement actions against any country party to a free trade agreement if it has implemented a tariff or nontariff barrier by reason of enactment into law of a bill terminating the agreement in whole or in part, and ensure that any free trade agreement entered into on or after enactment of this Act is negotiated in a form that provides for the termination with respect to the United States of specific portions of it.

Date: 2015-04-21
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Trade and Environment Enforcement Act or the Green 301 Act

 Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to take certain discretionary trade action against foreign countries that engage in unreasonable acts, policies, or practices that fail to enforce their environmental laws effectively.

Directs the USTR to identify foreign country trade practices that affect negatively the environment of the United States, the foreign country, a third country, or internationally.

Date: 2015-04-22
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Supplemental Trade Review, Oversight, Noncompliance and General Enforcement Resources Act of 2015 or the STRONGER Act of 2015

Establishes in the U.S. Treasury the Trade Agreements Enforcement Trust Fund. Directs the Department of the Treasury to transfer to the Trust Fund an amount equal to $15 million of the countervailing duties and antidumping duties received in the Treasury for each fiscal year beginning after enactment of this Act. Limits the total amount of funds in the Trust Fund to $30 million.

Authorizes the President to make sums in the Trust Fund available to: (1) the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to take specified actions relating to enforcement of free trade agreements; and (2) the USTR, the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Labor, and other departments and agencies with relevant expertise to take specified actions relating to implementation assistance and local capacity building under such agreements. Prohibits amounts made available in the Trust Fund from being used to negotiate any new free trade agreement.

Directs the President to establish a permanent interagency committee to ensure that actions taken under under this Act relating to implementation assistance and local capacity building are effectively prioritized, targeted, coordinated, and implemented. Requires the United States to promote aid effectiveness and accountability through transparency, monitoring, evaluation, learning, and fostering local ownership and implementation of U.S. assistance through such activities by requiring the interagency committee to: (1) publish timely, comprehensive, and detailed information regarding such activities on a quarterly basis, consistent with the U.S. commitment to full compliance with the International Aid Transparency Initiative; (2) conduct evaluations that are independent, methodologically rigorous, made public in their entirety, and transmitted to the International Aid Transparency Initiative Registry; and (3) develop and implement procedures for ensuring that data and evaluation results inform decisionmaking and lead to the revision and promotion of best practices among relevant executive branch agencies.

Date: 2015-04-22
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Millennium Compacts for Regional Economic Integration Act or the M-CORE Act

This bill amends the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 to establish beginning with FY2013 new assistance criteria for a low-income or a lower middle income candidate country eligible to enter into a Millennium Challenge Compact with the United States. Such a country must:

 have a per capita income equal to or less than the lower middle income country threshold established by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the fiscal year; be among the 75 countries identified by the Bank as having the lowest per capita income; and not be ineligible to receive U.S. economic assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Reclassification limits are set forth as follows:

 if the per capita income of a low-income candidate country changes during the fiscal year so that it would be reclassified as a lower middle income country, it shall be deemed to continue to meet the per capita income requirements for that fiscal year and the two subsequent fiscal years; and if the per capita income of a lower middle income candidate country changes during the fiscal year so that it would be reclassified as a low-income country, it shall be deemed to continue to meet the per capita income requirements for that fiscal year and the two subsequent fiscal years. An eligible country that has entered into and has in effect a Millennium Challenge Compact may enter into and have in effect at the same time not more than one additional Compact if:

 one or both of the Compacts are or will be for purposes of regional economic integration, increased regional trade, or cross-border collaborations; and the country is making considerable and demonstrable progress in implementing the terms of the existing Compact. Congressional and public notification and disclosure provisions are revised.

Date: 2015-05-22
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: International affairs
Earth Act

This bill amends the Trade Act of 1974 to revise requirements under the General System of Preferences (GSP).

The President shall not designate a foreign country as a beneficiary developing country eligible for preferential treatment under the GSP if it fails to enforce effectively its environmental laws or meet its international environmental obligations, including as they relate to public health.

Date: 2015-09-28
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
United States-Turkey Free Trade Promotion Act of 2015

This bill directs the United States Trade Representative to initiate negotiations to enter into a bilateral free trade agreement with Turkey that, among other things, promotes the export and import of natural resources, including coal, between the two countries.

Date: 2015-10-06
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
This bill directs the Department of State to: (1) develop a strategy to obtain membership status for India in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, including participation in related meetings, working groups, activities, and mechanisms; and (2) urge APEC member states to support India's membership.

Date: 2016-03-22
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: International affairs
Improving Economic Sanctions Act of 2016

This bill establishes within the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence of the Department of the Treasury an Economic Sanctions Strategy, Coordination, and Planning Group. The group shall conduct contingency planning to enable the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to impose, monitor, and enforce a program of economic sanctions against a foreign country or entity pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The group shall: (1) review OFAC economic sanctions programs to identify specific problems with such programs and general problems with U.S. economic sanctions policy, and (2) create a strategy to improve such programs and policy.

The Office of Terrorism and Financial Crimes shall coordinate the development of U.S. economic sanctions policy with the Departments of State, Defense, Justice, and Commerce; the National Security Council; and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: International affairs
Border Tax Equity Act of 2016

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on imports from any foreign country that: (1) employs an indirect tax system, and (2) grants rebates of indirect taxes paid on exports from that country. This tax shall be collected by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and deposited into a special account.

The bill also amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require the CBP, upon request of a U.S. exporter, to pay to the exporter from this special account an amount equal to the amount of indirect taxes imposed by the importing foreign country, minus any U.S. taxes rebated or funded upon exportation.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative must report on specified matters related to World Trade Organization negotiations, border taxes, and free-trade agreements.

Date: 2016-09-27
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
GSP Update for Production Diversification and Trade Enhancement Act or the GSP UPDATE Act 

 Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize the President to designate certain luggage and travel articles as eligible for duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).

Date: 2015-02-03
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Currency Undervaluation Investigation Act

Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require the administering authority, upon the filing of a petition by an interested party, to initiate a countervailing duty investigation or review to determine whether currency undervaluation by the government of, or any public entity within, a foreign country is providing, directly or indirectly, a countervailable subsidy to its exporters or products.

Declares that the fact that such a subsidy is also provided in circumstances not involving export shall not, for that reason alone, mean it cannot be considered export contingent and actionable under a countervailing duty and antidumping duty proceeding.

Declares that the amendments made by this Act shall apply to goods from Canada and Mexico.

Date: 2015-02-10
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Haitian Partnership Renewal Act

This bill amends the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act to extend: (1) the 60% applicable percentage requirement for duty-free entry of apparel articles assembled in Haiti and imported from Haiti or the Dominican Republic to the United States, and (2) duty-free entry of such articles through December 19, 2030.

Duty-free entry for woven articles and certain knit articles assembled in Haiti and imported from Haiti or the Dominican Republic to the United States is extended through September 30, 2030.

The special duty-free rules for Haiti are extended through September 30, 2030.

The transition period treatment of certain textile and apparel articles is extended through September 30, 2030.

Duty-free coverage is provided:

 for certain footwear, travel goods, leather wearing apparel, and lamps, lighting, and other electrical components that undergo a change in Haiti and are imported directly from Haiti or the Dominican Republic; and through September 30, 2030, for a qualifying wire harness automotive component that is the product or manufacture of Haiti and is imported directly from Haiti.

Date: 2015-02-12
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Level Playing Field in Trade Agreements Act of 2015

 No trade agreement with a country, or implementing bill for one, may receive expedited consideration by Congress under any provision of law, including any limitation on amendments or debate in either the Senate (except under rule XXII of the Standing Rules) or the House of Representatives unless the agreement:

 includes binding and enforceable requirements that all producers of merchandise exported to the United States from that country pay adequate wages and maintain sustainable production methods; and provides that, for purposes of such merchandise, the application of antidumping duty laws under the Tariff Act of 1930 shall be modified according to this Act. The administering authority, in determining the normal price of covered merchandise and whether it is or is likely to be sold at less than fair value, must increase the price by the difference, if any, between the actual cost of producing the merchandise and the estimated cost of producing it if the producer paid its employees adequate wages and maintained sustainable production methods.

 Certain interested parties that petition for an antidumping proceeding with respect to covered merchandise relying on calculations of normal value under this Act shall be presumed to demonstrate that they are materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of imports of the covered merchandise unless:

 the country from which the covered merchandise is exported is covered by a precertification, or the estimated cost of producing the covered merchandise is equal to or greater than the cost of producing it in the country in which the interested party is located. The administering authority shall issue a precertification with respect to wages, production methods, or both, for merchandise of a requesting exporter or producer that demonstrates to the administering authority's satisfaction that all such merchandise, including significant components or ingredients, was or will be produced under conditions under which all employees receive adequate wages or sustainable production methods are maintained.

The administering authority shall also issue a precertification for all merchandise imported from a country if that country's government maintains and enforces laws requiring all producers of such merchandise in that country to pay its employees adequate wages and to maintain sustainable production methods.

The administering authority, the Secretary of Labor, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency may jointly establish procedures pursuant to which obtaining certification from an independent third-party standards-setting organization may demonstrate eligibility for a precertification.

Date: 2015-03-12
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Trade Enforcement Act of 2015

Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to establish within the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) an Interagency Trade Enforcement Center to:

 serve as the primary forum within the federal government for coordinating with specified agencies the enforcement of U.S. trade rights under international trade agreements and of U.S. trade remedy laws; coordinate among the USTR, other agencies with trade-related responsibilities, and the intelligence community the exchange of information related to potential violations of international trade agreements by foreign trading partners of the United States; and conduct outreach to U.S. workers, businesses, and other interested persons to foster greater participation in the identification and reduction or elimination of foreign trade barriers and unfair foreign trade practices. Establishes in the Center the position of a Director, who shall be the Deputy USTR for Trade Enforcement to head the Trade Enforcement Division, as well as a Deputy Director and an Intelligence Community Liaison.

Establishes within the Office of the USTR a Chief Manufacturing Negotiator to conduct trade negotiations and enforce trade agreements relating to U.S. manufacturing products and services.

Makes it the principal functions of the Deputy USTR for Trade Enforcement to:

 ensure that U.S. trading partners comply with trade agreements to which the United States is a party, and assist the USTR in investigating and prosecuting disputes before the World Trade Organization and pursuant to other bilateral or regional trade agreements to which the United States is a party. Makes it the principal function of the Chief Manufacturing Negotiator to act as a vigorous advocate on behalf of this country's manufacturing interests.

Date: 2015-03-17
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Trade Adjustment Assistance Enhancement Act of 2015

 Amends the Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011 to repeal the declaration that trade adjustment assistance (TAA) program requirements in effect as of February 13, 2011, under the Trade Act of 1974 shall apply to petitions for certification to apply for TAA for workers, firms, and farmers that are filed before January 1, 2014.

 Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend through June 30, 2021:

 the TAA program, and the reemployment trade adjustment assistance (RTAA) program. Makes funds available for FY2015-FY2021 for training of adversely affected workers as well as (through June 30, 2021) reemployment and case management services.

Reauthorizes appropriations:

 through June 30, 2021, for the TAA program for workers; and for FY2015-FY2021 for the TAA program for firms and farmers. Revises and replaces core indicators of performance with primary indicators of performance. Adds among other factors the percentage and number of workers receiving TAA benefits who are in:

 unsubsidized employment, and an education or training program that leads to a recognized postsecondary schooling credential or employment and who are achieving measurable gains in skills toward that credential or employment. Specifies criteria the Department of Labor must use to determine the eligibility of workers to apply for TAA if no determination has been made, upon enactment of this Act, as to whether to certify a group of workers or firms as eligible pursuant to a petition filed between January 1, 2014, and enactment of this Act. Requires the Department to reconsider any determination made before enactment of this Act not to certify such workers or firms, and to certify them as eligible if they meet the specified requirements.

 Increases from 52 to 65 additional weeks of TAA payments in a 78-week period the length of additional time permissible to complete training.

Date: 2015-04-16
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
African Free Trade Initiative Act

This bill amends the African Growth and Opportunity Act to revise certain plan and reporting requirements relating to the President's negotiating and entering into free trade agreements with interested beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries.

The President shall develop a plan for negotiating and entering into one or more free trade agreements with 15 of the sub-Saharan African countries that are most ready for a free trade agreement with the United States.

The United States Trade Representative and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) shall coordinate with the Millennium Challenge Corporation regarding countries with shared development objectives that have entered into a Millennium Challenge Compact in order to develop and carry out such plans.

USAID long-term development assistance funds for sub-Saharan Africa may be used to:

 carry out plans, including deployment of resources in individual eligible sub-Saharan African countries to assist them in the development of institutional capacities to carry out those plans; and coordinate U.S. efforts to establish free trade agreements in order to increase trade between the United States and sub-Saharan African countries, as well as investment in those countries.

Date: 2015-05-19
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Trade Transparency Act of 2015

This bill declares that expedited congressional procedures for consideration (fast track for approval) of implementing bills for trade agreements shall not apply to such bills unless the President makes available to the public the scrubbed bracketed text of the trade agreement at least 60 days before enactment of an Act giving the President trade promotion authority.

Date: 2015-05-19
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
Millennium Compacts for Regional Economic Integration Act or the M-CORE Act

(Sec. 3) This bill amends he Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 to provide that a country that is eligible for assistance under such Act and the United States may enter into and have in effect at the same time not more than one additional compact if:

 one or both of the compacts are or will be for purposes of regional economic integration, increased regional trade, or cross-border collaborations; and the country is making considerable and demonstrable progress in implementing the terms of any existing compacts. (Sec. 4) The bill provides that a country qualifying for candidate status as an eligible country with a per capita income that changes in the fiscal year such that the country would be reclassified from a low income country to a lower middle income country, or from a lower middle income country to a low income country, shall retain its candidacy status in its former income classification for such fiscal year and the two subsequent fiscal years.

(Sec. 5) A member of the corporation's board who is not a federal officer may continue to serve in each initial or additional appointment for up to one year until his or her successor is appointed.

(Sec. 6) The board, after entering into a compact, shall publish in the Federal Register a notice that the compact's summary and text are available on the corporation's Internet website and provide the website's address. (The board is currently required to publish a compact's summary and text in the Federal Register and on the corporation's Internet website.)

(Sec. 7) The bill prohibits assistance for a country that does not qualify as a candidate country for the fiscal year when such assistance is provided. (A candidate country is a country that: (1) satisfies specified low income- and assistance-related requirements; and (2) demonstrates a significant commitment to, but fails to meet, specified political, economic, and social criteria.)

(Sec. 8) Before the board selects an eligible country for a compact, the corporation shall provide the board with information on the country's treatment of civil society.

(Sec. 9) The corporation shall submit a study within 180 days assessing the feasibility of developing partnerships at the subnational level within candidate countries that would be complementary to and concurrent with national or regional investments.

Date: 2015-06-18
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: International affairs
Trade Enforcement Improvement Act of 2015

This bill amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to direct the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to consider expanded factors when determining whether imports of merchandise receiving a countervailable subsidy from an exporting country substantially weaken the remedial effect of any countervailing duty order. These factors shall include:

 an increase in the U.S. market share of those imports after the filing by domestic manufacturers or unions of a petition for remedies, an increase in underselling of the domestic like product by the frequency or magnitude of such imports after the filing of the petition, and a weakening of the industry of the domestic like product after the petition filing. The ITC shall consider the same expanded factors when determining whether imports of merchandise at less than fair value substantially weaken the remedial effect of any antidumping duty order.

The ITC may determine that a U.S. industry is threatened with material injury if imminent future imports of subject merchandise will likely render the industry's performance materially worse than it would otherwise have been.

The Department of Homeland Security may publish semiannually in the Federal Register a list of any producer, manufacturer, supplier, seller, exporter, or other person located outside the U.S. customs territory to which the ITC has issued a penalty claim for customs violations involving fraud.

These violations include any practices aiding or abetting the transshipment, through a country not the country of origin, of textile, apparel, or any goods subject to antidumping or countervailing duty orders, in a manner concealing their true origin or permitting evasion of import quotas or duties.

 The President may publish an annual list of countries:

 in which illegal activities have occurred involving transshipped goods or activities designed to evade U.S. quotas or duties; and whose governments fail to demonstrate a good faith effort to cooperate with U.S. authorities in halting such activities.

Date: 2015-11-18
Topic: Foreign Trade (Trade Agreements)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance