[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1120 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1120

 To modify the standards for responding to import surges under section 
   201 of the Trade Act of 1974, to establish mechanisms for import 
 monitoring and the prevention of circumvention of United States trade 
 laws, and to strengthen the enforcement of United States trade remedy 
                                 laws.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 16, 1999

Mr. Levin (for himself and Mr. Houghton) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To modify the standards for responding to import surges under section 
   201 of the Trade Act of 1974, to establish mechanisms for import 
 monitoring and the prevention of circumvention of United States trade 
 laws, and to strengthen the enforcement of United States trade remedy 
                                 laws.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 1 OF TITLE II OF THE TRADE ACT OF 
              1974.

    (a) Test for Positive Adjustments to Import Competition.--Section 
201(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2251(a)) is amended by 
striking ``be a substantial cause of serious injury, or the threat 
thereof,'' and inserting ``cause or threaten to cause serious injury''.
    (b) Investigations and Determinations.--Section 202 of such Act (19 
U.S.C. 2252) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ``be a substantial 
        cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof,'' and inserting 
        ``cause or threaten to cause serious injury'';
            (2) by amending subsection (b)(1)(B) to read as follows:
            ``(B) For purposes of this section, the term `cause' refers 
        to a cause that contributes significantly to serious injury, or 
        the threat thereof, to the domestic industry but need not be 
        equal to or greater than any other cause.'';
            (3) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by amending paragraph (1)(A) to read as 
                follows:
                    ``(A) with respect to serious injury--
                            ``(i) change in the level of sales, 
                        production, productivity, capacity utilization, 
                        profits and losses, and employment,
                            ``(ii) the significant idling of productive 
                        facilities in the domestic industry,
                            ``(iii) the inability of a significant 
                        number of firms to carry out domestic 
                        production operations at a reasonable level of 
                        profit, and
                            ``(iv) significant unemployment or 
                        underemployment within the domestic 
                        industry;'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1)(B)--
                            (i) in clause (iii) by striking ``; and'' 
                        and inserting ``, and''; and
                            (ii) by inserting after clause (iii) the 
                        following:
                            ``(iv) foreign production capacity, foreign 
                        inventories, the level of demand in third 
                        country markets, and the availability of other 
                        export markets to absorb any additional 
                        exports; and'';
                    (C) by amending paragraph (1)(C) to read as 
                follows:
                    ``(C) with respect to cause--
                            ``(i) the rate, amount, and timing of the 
                        increase in imports of the product concerned in 
                        absolute and relative terms, including whether 
                        there has been a substantial increase in 
                        imports over a short period of time, and
                            ``(ii) the share of the domestic market 
                        taken by increased imports.'';
                    (D) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (6) as 
                paragraphs (5) through (8), respectively;
                    (E) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(2) In making determinations under paragraph (1)(A) and 
        (B), if domestic producers internally transfer significant 
        production of the article like or directly competitive with the 
        imported article for the production of a downstream article and 
        sell significant production of the article like or directly 
        competitive with the imported article in the merchant market, 
        and the Commission finds that--
                    ``(A) the article like or directly competitive with 
                the imported article produced that is internally 
                transferred for processing into that downstream article 
                does not enter the merchant market for the article like 
                or directly competitive with the imported article,
                    ``(B) the article like or directly competitive with 
                the imported article is the predominant material input 
in the production of that downstream article, and
                    ``(C) the production of the article like or 
                directly competitive with the imported article sold in 
                the merchant market is not generally used in the 
                production of the downstream article,
        then the Commission, in determining market share and the 
        factors affecting financial performance set forth in paragraph 
        (1)(A) and (B), shall focus primarily on the merchant market 
        for the article like or directly competitive with the imported 
        article.
            ``(3) In making determinations under subsection (b), the 
        Commission shall--
                    ``(A) consider the condition of the domestic 
                industry over the course of the relevant business 
                cycle, but may not aggregate the causes of declining 
                demand associated with a recession or economic downturn 
                in the United States economy into a single cause of 
                serious injury or threat of injury; and
                    ``(B) examine factors other than imports which may 
                cause or threaten to cause serious injury to the 
                domestic industry.
         The Commission shall include the results of its examination 
        under subparagraph (B) in the report submitted by the 
        Commission to the President under subsection (e).
            ``(4) In making determinations under subsection (b), the 
        Commission shall consider whether any change in the volume of 
        imports that has occurred since a petition under subsection (a) 
        was filed or a request under subsection (b) was made is related 
        to the pendency of the investigation, and if so, the Commission 
        may reduce the weight accorded to the data for the period after 
        the petition under subsection (a) was filed or the request 
        under subsection (b) was made in making its determination of 
        serious injury, or the threat thereof.''; and
                    (F) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated--
                            (i) by striking ``and (B)'' and inserting 
                        ``, (B), and (C)''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``be a substantial cause 
                        of serious injury, or the threat thereof,'' and 
                        inserting ``cause or threaten to cause serious 
                        injury'';
            (4) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), by striking ``be, or 
                likely to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or 
                the threat thereof,'' and inserting ``cause, or be 
                likely to cause, or threaten to cause, or be likely to 
                threaten to cause, serious injury'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1)(C), in the matter following 
                clause (ii), by striking ``a substantial cause of 
                serious injury, or the threat thereof,'' and inserting 
                ``causing or threatening to cause serious injury'';
                    (C) by amending paragraph (2)(A) to read as 
                follows:
            ``(2)(A) When a petition filed under subsection (a) or a 
        request filed under subsection (b) alleges that critical 
        circumstances exist and requests that provisional relief be 
        provided under this subsection with respect to imports of the 
        article identified in the petition or request, the Commission 
        shall, not later than 45 days after the petition or request is 
        filed, determine, on the basis of available information, 
        whether--
                    ``(i) there is clear evidence that increased 
                imports (either actual or relative to domestic 
                production) of the article are causing or threatening 
                to cause serious injury to the domestic industry 
                producing an article like or directly competitive with 
                the imported article; and
                    ``(ii) delay in taking action under this chapter 
                would cause damage to that industry that would be 
                difficult to repair.
        In making the evaluation under clause (ii), the Commission 
        should consider, among other factors that it considers 
        relevant, the timing and volume of the imports, including 
        whether there has been a substantial increase in imports over a 
        short period of time, and any other circumstances indicating 
        that delay in taking action under this chapter would cause 
        damage to the industry that would be difficult to repair.''; 
        and
                    (D) in paragraph (2)(D), by striking ``30'' and 
                inserting ``20''.
    (c) Presidential Determinations.--
            (1) Action by president.--Section 203(a) of the Trade Act 
        of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2253(a)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``and provide 
                greater economic and social benefits than costs'' and 
                inserting ``and will not have an adverse impact on the 
                United States substantially out of proportion to the 
                benefits of such action'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)(F), by striking the semicolon 
                at the end of clause (iii) and inserting the following:
                ``except that the President shall give substantially 
                greater weight to the factors set out in clause (i) 
                than to those set out in clauses (ii) and (iii);''; and
                    (C) by amending paragraph (2)(I) to read as 
                follows:
                    ``(I) the potential for harm to the national 
                security of the United States; and''.
            (2) Implementation of action recommended by commission.--
        (A) Section 203(c) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2253(c)) 
        is amended by striking ``90'' and inserting ``60''.
            (B) Section 152(c)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 
        2192(c)(1)) is amended by striking ``not counting any day which 
        is excluded under section 154(b),'' and inserting ``counting 
        all calendar days in the case of a resolution described in 
        subsection (a)(1)(A), and not counting any day which is 
        excluded under section 154(b) in the case of a resolution 
        described in subsection (a)(1)(B),''.
    (d) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 203(e)(6)(B) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 
        U.S.C. 2253(e)(6)(B)) is amended by striking ``substantially''.
            (2) Section 264(c) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 
        2354(c)) is amended by striking ``a substantial cause of 
        serious injury or threat thereof'' and inserting ``causing or 
        threatening to cause serious injury''.
            (3) Section 154(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 
        2194(b)) is amended by striking the matter that precedes 
        paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
    ``(b) The 60-day period referred to in section 203(c) and the 90-
day period referred to in section 407(c)(2) shall be computed by 
excluding--''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 332 OF THE TARIFF ACT OF 1930.

    Section 332 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1332) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h)(1) Any entity, including a trade association, firm, certified 
or recognized union, or group of workers, which is representative of a 
domestic industry that produces an article that is like or directly 
competitive with an imported article, may file a request with the 
President pursuant to paragraph (2) for the monitoring of imports of 
such article under subsection (g).
    ``(2) If the request filed under paragraph (1) alleges that an 
article is being imported into the United States in such increased 
quantities as to cause serious injury, or threat thereof, to a domestic 
industry, the President, within 45 days after receiving the request, 
shall determine if monitoring is appropriate.
    ``(3) If the determination under paragraph (2) is affirmative, the 
President shall request, under subsection (g), the Commission to 
monitor and investigate the imports concerned for a period not to 
exceed 2 years.''.

SEC. 3. EARLY RELEASE OF IMPORT DATA.

    In order to facilitate the early identification of potentially 
disruptive import surges, the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget may grant an exception to the publication dates established for 
the release of data on United States international trade in goods and 
services in order to permit public access to preliminary international 
trade import data, if the Director notifies the Congress of the early 
release of the data.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPORT MONITORING CENTER.

    Section 301 of the Customs Procedural Reform and Simplification Act 
of 1978 (19 U.S.C. 2075) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Steel Import Monitoring and Enforcement Support Center.--
There are authorized to be appropriated for a Steel Import Monitoring 
and Enforcement Support Center in the United States Customs Service, in 
addition to amounts otherwise available for such purposes, $250,000 for 
fiscal year 1999, and $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2000.''.

SEC. 5. AMENDMENT TO TARIFF ACT OF 1930.

    Section 484(f) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1484(f)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``The Secretary'' and inserting ``(1) The 
        Secretary''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, and 
the International Trade Commission shall establish a suffix to the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States for merchandise that is 
subject to countervailing duty orders or antidumping duty orders under 
title VII of this Act, or subject to actions by the President under 
chapter 1 of title II, or section 406, of the Trade Act of 1974.''.

SEC. 6. PRODUCT MONITORING.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Commerce shall monitor imports on 
a monthly basis for import surges and potential unfair trade through 
the year 2000. Products to be monitored shall be determined by the 
Secretary of Commerce based on the import surge data compiled by the 
Secretary, but shall include, at a minimum, steel mill products and 
other import-sensitive products identified by United States industries 
or entities representative of a United States industry that meet the 
necessary criteria established by the Secretary. In determining whether 
to monitor imports of a specific product, the Secretary shall consider 
the percentage increase in imports, the volume or value of imports, as 
appropriate, the level of import penetration, and any other factors the 
Secretary considers necessary.
    (b) Reporting Requirements.--Within 30 days after the release of 
the official December import statistics for calendar year 1999 and for 
calendar year 2000, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit a report to 
the Congress summarizing the monitoring activities under this section 
for that calendar year and identifying products to be monitored in the 
next calendar year. In addition, in the report to the Congress covering 
calendar year 1999, the Secretary of Commerce shall determine whether 
trade conditions during the calendar year 1999 merit extending the 
import monitoring program beyond the program's scheduled expiration at 
the end of calendar year 2000.

SEC. 7. ITC INVESTIGATION OF ANTICOMPETITIVE PRACTICES IN INTERNATIONAL 
              STEEL TRADE.

    (a) In General.--Within 30 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the United States International Trade Commission shall 
commence an investigation under section 332 of the Tariff Act of 1930--
            (1) to collect information on anticompetitive practices in 
        international steel trade;
            (2) to assess the adverse effects of such practices on 
        United States producers, workers, and consumers;
            (3) to collect information on import licensing arrangements 
        of other members of the World Trade Organization; and
            (4) to report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the 
        House of Representatives, the Committee on Finance of the 
        Senate, and the United States Trade Representative on its 
        findings within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 
        Act.
    (b) Inclusion in National Trade Estimate Report.--The United States 
Trade Representatives shall include the findings of the International 
Trade Commission under subsection (a) in a special section of the 
report submitted under section 181(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 after 
the 1-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
in which the Trade Representative shall identify and explain any 
anticompetitive practices in international steel trade, evaluate the 
compatibility of import licensing programs with obligations under the 
World Trade Organization, and propose steps to be taken to address 
anticompetitive practices and practices inconsistent with the World 
Trade Organization.
    (c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``anticompetitive practices in international steel trade'' means--
            (1) monopolies or cartels, whether or not sanctioned by 
        government authorities, which restrict the output, delivery, or 
        pricing of steel products;
            (2) agreements between steel producers, whether or not 
        sanctioned by government authorities, to restrict the flow of 
        steel products or limit price competition in international 
        steel trade; and
            (3) coercion or threats by manufacturers to distributors or 
        consumers which have the effect of restricting imports of steel 
        products.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Department of Commerce.--(1) There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Department of Commerce, in addition to the amounts 
otherwise available for such purposes, $1,200,000 for fiscal year 1999 
and $5,200,000 for fiscal year 2000 for additional staff to conduct 
import monitoring, subsidy enforcement, and prompt antidumping 
investigations under subtitle B of title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930.
    (b) USTR.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the Office of 
the United States Trade Representative, in addition to amounts 
otherwise available for such purposes, $250,000 for fiscal year 1999 
and $750,000 for fiscal year 2000 for additional staff--
            (1) to promote and defend policy with respect to United 
        States import safeguards and countervailing or antidumping duty 
        actions if challenged in the World Trade Organization; and
            (2) to identify foreign trade-distorting measures and 
        develop policies and responsive actions to address them.
    (c) ITC.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the Office of 
the United States International Trade Commission, in addition to 
amounts otherwise available for such purposes, such sums as may be 
necessary for fiscal year 1999, and such sums as may be necessary for 
each of fiscal years 2000 through 2002, for additional staff to make 
prompt determinations under section 202 (b) and (d) of the Trade Act of 
1974.
                                 <all>