[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1166 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1166

 To authorize the President to enter into a trade agreement concerning 
    Northern Ireland and certain border counties of the Republic of 
                    Ireland, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 17, 1999

 Mr. Meehan (for himself, Mr. King, Mr. Crowley, Mrs. McCarthy of New 
  York, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island, Mr. Payne, Mr. Menendez, and Mr. 
  Pascrell) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the President to enter into a trade agreement concerning 
    Northern Ireland and certain border counties of the Republic of 
                    Ireland, 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. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) It is in the interest of the United States that the 
        precarious peace process now underway in Northern Ireland and 
        the Republic of Ireland succeed, both to ensure stability for 
        important allies and friends of the United States and to assure 
        a mutually beneficial flow of trade and commerce.
            (2) Locally sustainable economic development within 
        Northern Ireland and the border counties of the Republic of 
        Ireland creates the basis for political stability and enhances 
        the likelihood of peace.
            (3)(A) The granting of reasonable tariff concessions for 
        products and goods originating in Northern Ireland and the 
        border counties of the Republic of Ireland will provide an 
        incentive for such development.
            (B) Because both the United Kingdom and the Republic of 
        Ireland are members of the European Union (hereafter in this 
        Act referred to as the ``EU''), tariff issues relating to 
        Northern Ireland and the border counties of the Republic of 
        Ireland are subject to the common commercial policy provided 
        for in Article 113 of the Treaty of Rome, and any negotiations 
        concerning them must conform to EU law and Paragraphs 5, 6, 7, 
        and 8 of Article XXIV of the GATT 1994.
            (C) While there is no precedent in EU practice for the free 
        trade agreement contemplated in this Act, the effect of such an 
        agreement will be to support important on-going efforts by the 
        EU to achieve greater social cohesion in a unique and 
        disadvantaged region, to the long-term benefit of the EU, the 
        United States, and the larger international community.
            (4) The President should be authorized to negotiate such 
        concessions in accordance with the terms and conditions set 
        forth in the Act.

SEC. 2. FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH NORTHERN IRELAND.

    (a) Negotiations.--
            (1) In general.--The President may enter into a trade 
        agreement with respect to qualified areas of Northern Ireland 
        and the Republic of Ireland which provides for--
                    (A) the harmonization, reduction, and elimination 
                of trade barriers;
                    (B) the prohibition of or limitations on the 
                imposition of trade barriers; and
                    (C) the elimination or reduction of any duty 
                imposed by the United States.
            (2) Agreement limited to qualified areas of northern 
        ireland and the republic of ireland.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, no trade benefit shall be extended to any 
        country by reason of the extension of any trade benefit to 
        another country under a trade agreement entered into under 
        paragraph (1) with such other country.
    (b) Limitations and Staging.--
            (1) In general.--No proclamation may be made under 
        subsection (a) that--
                    (A) reduces any rate of duty (other than a rate of 
                duty that does not exceed 5 percent ad valorem on the 
                date of enactment of this Act) to a rate of duty which 
                is less than 5 percent of the rate of duty that applies 
                on such a date of enactment;
                    (B) reduces the rate of duty on an article over a 
                period greater than 10 years after the first reduction 
                that is proclaimed to carry out a trade agreement with 
                respect to such article; or
                    (C) increase any rate of duty above the rate that 
                applies on the date of the enactment of this Act.
            (2) Limitation on aggregate reduction.--The aggregate 
        reduction in the rate of duty on any article which is in effect 
        on any day pursuant to a trade agreement entered into under 
        subsection (a) shall not exceed the aggregate reduction which 
would have been in effect on such a day if a reduction of 3 percent ad 
valorem per year or a reduction of 10 percent per year of the total 
reduction, whichever is greater, had taken effect on the effective date 
of the first reduction proclaimed pursuant to subsection (a).
            (3) Exemption from staging.--No staging is required under 
        paragraph (2) with respect to a duty reduction that is 
        proclaimed under subsection (a) for an article of a kind that 
        is not produced in the United States. The United States 
        International Trade Commission shall advise the President of 
        the identity of articles that may be exempted from staging 
        under this paragraph.
            (4) Rounding.--If the President determines that such action 
        will simplify the computation of reductions under paragraph (1) 
        or (2), the President may round an annual reduction by an 
        amount equal to the lesser of--
                    (A) the difference between the reduction without 
                regard to this paragraph and the next lower whole 
                number; or
                    (B) one-half of 1 percent ad valorem.
            (5) Other limitations.--A rate of duty reduction or 
        increase that may not be proclaimed by reason of paragraph (1) 
        may take effect only if a provision authorizing such reduction 
        is included within an implementing bill provided for in 
        connection with the agreement authorized by this Act and that 
        bill is enacted into law.

SEC. 3. CRITERIA FOR DUTY-FREE TREATMENT OF ARTICLES.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Article must be growth, product, or manufacture of 
        qualified area of northern ireland or the republic of 
        ireland.--The reduction or elimination of any duty imposed on 
        any article by the United States provided for in a trade 
        agreement entered into with a qualified area of Northern 
        Ireland or the Republic of Ireland under this Act shall apply 
        only if--
                    (A) that article is the growth, product, or 
                manufacture of a qualified area of Northern Ireland or 
                the Republic of Ireland or is a new or different 
                article of commerce that has been grown, produced, or 
                manufactured in a qualified area of Northern Ireland or 
                the Republic of Ireland;
                    (B) that article is imported directly from a 
                qualified area of Northern Ireland or the Republic of 
                Ireland into the customs territory of the United 
                States; and
                    (C) the sum of--
                            (i) the cost of value of the materials 
                        produced in a qualified area of Northern 
                        Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, plus
                            (ii) the direct costs of processing 
                        operations performed in a qualified area of 
                        Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland,
                is not less than 35 percent of the appraised value of 
                such article at the time it is entered.
        If the cost or value of materials produced in the customs 
        territory of the United States is included with respect to an 
        article to which this subsection applies, an amount not to 
        exceed 15 percent of the appraised value of the article at the 
        time it is entered that is attributable to such United States 
        cost or value may be applied toward determining the percentage 
        referred to in subparagraph (C).
            (2) Other requirements.--No article may be considered to 
        meet the requirements of paragraph (1)(A) by virtue of having 
        merely undergone--
                    (A) simple combining or packaging operations; or
                    (B) mere dilution with water or mere dilution with 
                another substance that does not materially alter the 
                characteristics of the article.
    (b) Direct Costs.--As used in this section, the term ``direct costs 
of processing operations''--
            (1) includes, but is not limited to--
                    (A) all actual labor costs involved in the growth, 
                production, manufacture, or assembly of the specific 
                merchandise, including fringe benefits, on-the-job 
                training, and the cost of engineering, supervisory, 
                quality control, and similar personnel; and
                    (B) dies, molds, tooling, and depreciation on 
                machinery and equipment which are allocable to the 
                specific merchandise; and
            (2) does not include costs which are not directly 
        attributable to the merchandise concerned, or are not costs of 
        manufacturing the product, such as--
                    (A) profit; and
                    (B) general expenses of doing business which are 
                either not allocable to the specific merchandise or are 
                not related to the growth, production, manufacture, or 
                assembly of the merchandise, such as administrative 
                salaries, casualty and liability insurance, 
                advertising, and salesmen's salaries, commissions, or 
                expenses.
    (c) Regulations.--The Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation 
with the United States Trade Representative, shall prescribe such 
regulations as may be necessary to carry out this section.

SEC. 4. ITC REPORTS.

    Before any reduction or elimination of any duty is proclaimed with 
respect to any article under this Act, the United States International 
Trade Commission shall advise the President regarding the probable 
economic effect of providing duty-free treatment for such article that 
is a product of a qualified area of Northern Ireland or the Republic of 
Ireland on industries in the United States producing like or directly 
competitive articles and on consumers.

SEC. 5. CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESS BEFORE AGREEMENT ENTERED INTO.

    (a) Consultation.--Before entering into any trade agreement under 
this Act, the President shall consult with--
            (1) the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate; and
            (2) each other committee of the House of Representatives 
        and the Senate, and each joint committee of the Congress, which 
        has jurisdiction over legislation involving subject matters 
        which would be affected by the trade agreement.
    (b) Scope.--The consultation described in subsection (a) shall 
include consultation with respect to--
            (1) the nature of the agreement;
            (2) how the agreement related to the obligations of the 
        parties; and
            (3) all matters relating to the implementation of the 
        agreement, including whether the agreement includes subject 
        matter for which supplemental implementing legislation may be 
        required.

SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION OF TRADE AGREEMENTS.

    (a) Notification and Submission.--Any agreement entered into under 
this Act shall enter into force with respect to the United States if 
(and only if)--
            (1) the President, at least 90 calendar days before the day 
        on which the President enters into the trade agreement, 
        notifies the House of Representatives and the Senate of the 
        President's intention to enter into the agreement, and promptly 
        thereafter publishes notice of such intention in the Federal 
        Register;
            (2) within 60 days after entering into the agreement, the 
        President submits to the Congress a description of those 
        changes to existing laws that the President considers would be 
        required in order to bring the United States into compliance 
        with the agreement;
            (3) after entering into the agreement, the President 
        submits a copy of the final text of the agreement, together 
        with--
                    (A) a draft of an implementing bill, if necessary;
                    (B) a statement of any administrative action 
                proposed to implement the trade agreement; and
                    (C) the supporting information described in 
                paragraph (2); and
            (4) the implementing bill, if necessary, is enacted into 
        law.
    (b) Supporting Information.--The supporting information required 
under subsection (a)(3)(C) consists of--
            (1) an explanation as to how the implementing bill and 
        proposed administrative action will change or affect existing 
        law; and
            (2) a statement setting forth the reasons of the President 
        regarding how the agreement serves the interest of United 
        States commerce.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) Qualifying area.--(A) The term ``qualifying area'' 
        means a county that--
                    (i) is contiguous to Northern Ireland;
                    (ii) suffers from the severest form of economic 
                deprivation, as defined by the United Kingdom's report, 
                Relative Deprivation in Northern Ireland, Occasional 
                Paper Number 28, Policy Planning and Research Unit, 
                September, and the European Union's report, Special 
                Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation 1995-
                1999, including--
                            (I) in Northern Ireland, the counties of 
                        Derry, Limavady, Strabane, Magherafelt, Omagh, 
                        Cookstown, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Moyle, Newry 
                        and Mourne, Armagh, and those parts of Belfast 
                        Urban area known as ``Making Belfast Work'' 
                        designated areas; and
                            (II) in the Republic of Ireland, the border 
                        counties of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, 
                        Monaghan and Louth;
                    (iii) has a rate of unemployment higher than the 
                local or urban average of unemployment in Northern 
                Ireland; and
                    (iv) in the case of county in which there is a 
                history of workplace discrimination, meets the 
                requirements of subparagraph (B).
            (B) A county meets the requirements of this subparagraph if 
        the employers in that county are in compliance with the 
        principles of economic justice known as the ``MacBride 
        Principles'', which are--
                    (i) increasing the representation of individuals 
                from underrepresented religious groups in the 
                workforce, including managerial, supervisory, 
                administrative, clerical, and technical jobs;
                    (ii) providing adequate security for the protection 
                of minority employees at the workplace;
                    (iii) banning provocative sectarian or political 
                emblems from the workplace;
                    (iv) providing that all job openings be advertised 
                publicly and providing that special recruitment efforts 
                be made to attract applicants from underrepresented 
                religious groups;
                    (v) providing that layoff, recall, and termination 
                procedures do not favor a particular religious group;
                    (vi) abolishing job reservations, apprenticeship 
                restrictions, and differential employment criteria 
                which discriminate on the basis of religion;
                    (vii) providing for the development of training 
                programs that will prepare substantial numbers of 
                minority employees for skilled jobs, including the 
                expansion of existing programs and the creation of new 
                programs to train, upgrade, and improve the skills of 
                minority employees;
                    (viii) establishing procedures to assess, identify, 
                and actively recruit minority employees with the 
                potential for further advancement; and
                    (ix) providing for the appointment of a senior 
                management staff member to be responsible for the 
                employment efforts of the entity and, within a 
                reasonable period of time, the implementation of the 
                principles described in clauses (i) through (viii).
            (2) GATT 1994.--The term ``GATT 1994'' has the meaning 
        given that term in section 2(1)(B) of the Uruguay Round 
        Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501(1)(B)).
                                 <all>