[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4289 Introduced in House (IH)]







                                    


104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4289

   To provide a more effective remedy for inadequate trade benefits 
 extended to the United States by other countries and for restrictions 
             on free emigration imposed by other countries.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 28, 1996

 Mr. Bereuter introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide a more effective remedy for inadequate trade benefits 
 extended to the United States by other countries and for restrictions 
             on free emigration imposed by other countries.

    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 ``Fair Trade Opportunities Act''.

SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

    It is the purpose of this Act to enable the President to--
            (1) remedy the actions or policies of countries that do not 
        accord adequate trade benefits to the United States, including 
        substantially equal competitive opportunities for the commerce 
        of the United States;
            (2) negotiate more equitable tariff and other trade 
        benefits for the people of the United States;
            (3) sanction non market economy countries that deny or 
        unduly restrict the right or opportunity of their citizens to 
        emigrate; and
            (4) adjust and simplify the trade laws of the United States 
        to better respond to the realities of a post-Cold War world.

SEC. 3. REPEAL OF JACKSON-VANIK.

    (a) Title IV of Trade Act of 1974.--Title IV of the Trade Act of 
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2431 and following), and the items relating to title IV 
in the table or contents of that Act, are repealed.
    (b) Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.--
    General Note 3 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States is amended--
            (1) in the matter that precedes subdivision (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``columns'' and inserting 
                ``column''; and
                    (B) by striking ``and 2''; and
            (2) by striking subdivision (b).
    (c) Effective Date.--The provisions of subsection (a) and the 
amendments made by subsection (b) apply to articles entered, or 
withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the 15th day 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. OUTSTANDING TRADE AGREEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Any trade agreement that--
            (1) was entered into by the United States under title IV of 
        the Trade Act of 1974 (as such title is in effect on the day 
        before the date of the enactment of this Act), and
            (2) is in effect on the day before such date of enactment,
shall remain in effect until such agreement expires or is terminated or 
otherwise suspended.
    (b) Other Agreements.--Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to 
alter, amend, or otherwise affect the terms of any trade agreement 
entered into by the United States pursuant to provisions other than 
such title IV of the Trade Act of 1974.

SEC. 5. OTHER AUTHORITIES NOT AFFECTED.

    Nothing in this Act shall affect--
            (1) the authority of the United States Trade Representative 
        or the President to take action under section 301 of the Trade 
        Act of 1974; or
            (2) the authorities of the President under other provisions 
        of law to increase duties on articles from other countries, or 
        to prohibit or impose other restrictions on imports of articles 
        from other countries, including section 111(c) of the Uruguay 
        Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3521(c)), section 5(b) of the 
        Trading with the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. App. 5(b)), section 203 
        of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 
        1702), and sections 504(a) and 505(a) (22 U.S.C. 2349aa-9) of 
        the International Security and Development Cooperation Act of 
        1985.

SEC. 6. SNAP-BACK MECHANISM FOR NON-WTO MEMBERS.

    (a) Determination With Respect To Non-WTO Members.--Within 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 
consult with the appropriate congressional committees and determine 
whether each foreign country that is not a WTO member is not according 
adequate trade benefits to the United States, including substantially 
equal competitive opportunities for the commerce of the United States.
    (b) Tariff Increase.--
            (1) Imposition of increase.--If the President determines 
        under subsection (a) that a foreign country is not according 
        adequate trade benefits to the United States, then the 
        President shall proclaim, within 180 days after the date of 
        that determination, an increase in the rate of duty with 
        respect to one or more products of that country to not more 
        than the column 1 rate of duty under the Harmonized Tariff 
        Schedule of the United States that applied to the article or 
        articles on December 31, 1994.
            (2) Termination of increase.--The President shall terminate 
        any increase in the rate of duty imposed under paragraph (1) 
        with respect to a country on the earlier of--
                    (A) the date the country becomes a WTO member; or
                    (B) the date on which the President proclaims that 
                the country is according adequate trade benefits to the 
                United States, including substantially equal 
                competitive opportunities for the commerce of the 
                United States.
    (c) Rate of Duty in Absence of Commercial Agreement.--In the case 
of a country that is not a WTO member and is not a party to a 
commercial agreement with the United States that substantially meets 
the requirements of section 405 of the Trade Act of 1974 (as in effect 
on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act), other than 
the requirement that the agreement be limited to a period of not more 
than 3 years, the column 2 rate of duty under the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States shall apply to the products of that 
country.
    (d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            (1) the term ``WTO member'' means a state, or separate 
        customs territory (within the meaning of Article XII of the WTO 
        Agreement), with respect to which the United States applies the 
        WTO Agreement; and
            (2) the term ``WTO Agreement'' means the Agreement 
        Establishing the World Trade Organization entered into on April 
        15, 1994.

SEC. 7. OTHER AUTHORITY TO INCREASE TARIFFS.

    (a) Authority.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
President is authorized to increase the rate of duty on any product of 
a non market economy country that is not a WTO member to not more than 
the column 1 rate of duty under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States that applied to that product on December 31, 1994, if 
that country--
            (1) denies its citizens the right or opportunity to 
        emigrate;
            (2) imposes more than a nominal tax on emigration or on 
        visas or other documents required for emigration, for any 
        purpose or cause whatsoever; or
            (3) imposes more than a nominal tax, levy, fine, fee, or 
        other charge on any citizen as a consequence of the desire of 
        such citizen to emigrate to the country of his or her choice.

SEC. 8. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Trade Act of 1974.--
            (1) Section 151 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2191) 
        is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)(1)--
                            (i) by striking ``approval resolutions 
                        described in subsection (b)(3), and resolutions 
                        described in subsections 152(a) and 153(a)'' 
                        and inserting ``and resolutions described in 
                        section 152(a)'';
                    (B) in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (3);
                    (C) in subsection (c)--
                            (i) by striking ``(c) Introduction and 
                        Referral.--'';
                            (ii) by moving the remaining text of 
                        paragraph (1) 2 ems to the left;
                            (iii) by striking ``(1) On the day''
                        and inserting--
    ``(c) Introduction and Referral.--On the day''; and
                            (iv) by striking paragraph (2);
                    (D) in subsection (d), by striking ``or approval 
                resolution''; and
                    (E) in subsections (e), (f), and (g)--
                            (i) by striking ``or approval resolution'' 
                        each place it appears; and
                            (ii) by striking ``or resolution'' each 
                        place it appears.
            (2) Section 152 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2192) 
        is amended--
                    (A) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
    ``(a) Contents of Resolution.--For purposes of this section, the 
term `resolution' means only a joint resolution of the two Houses of 
the Congress, the matter after the resolving clause of which is as 
follows: `That the Congress does not approve the action taken by, or 
the determination of, the President under section 203 of the Trade Act 
of 1974 transmitted to the Congress on ________.', with the blank space 
being filled with the appropriate date.''; and
                    (B) in subsection (f)--
                            (i) in paragraph (2), by striking ``or 
                        153(a), whichever is applicable,''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking ``or 
                        section 153(a)''.
            (3) Section 153 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2193), 
        and the item relating to that section in the table of contents 
        for that Act, are repealed.
            (4) Section 154 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2194) 
        is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``203(b), 
                402(d), or 407(a) or (b)'' and inserting ``or 203(b)''; 
                and
                    (B) by striking ``sections 203(c), 407(c)(2), and 
                407(c)(3)'' and inserting ``section 203(c)''.
    (b) Other Provisions of Law.--
            (1) Section 330(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
        1330(d)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``to determine--
                    ``(A) under''
                and all that follows through ``and the commissioners'' 
                and inserting ``to determine, under section 202 of the 
                Trade Act of 1974, whether increased imports of an 
                article are a substantial cause of serious injury, or 
                the threat thereof, as described in subsection (b)(1) 
                of that section (hereafter in this subsection referred 
                to as `serious injury'), and the commissioners'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by striking ``or 406'';
                            (ii) by striking ``or market disruption 
                        exists, respectively''; and
                            (iii) by striking ``or the finding under 
                        section 406(a)(3) of such Act, as the case may 
                        be''.
            (2) Section 1102(b)(1) of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 
        (19 U.S.C. 2581(b)(1)) is amended by striking ``301, or 406'' 
        and ``2411, or 2436'' and inserting ``or 301'' and ``or 2411'', 
        respectively.
            (3) Section 2(c)(11) of the Support for East European 
        Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 (22 U.S.C. 5401(c)(11)) is amended 
        to read as follows:
            ``(11) Most-favored-nation trade status.--The granting of 
        nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) to 
        the products of an East European country.''.
                                 <all>