[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1662 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1662

To grant the President authority to proclaim the elimination or staged 
        rate reduction of duties on certain environmental goods.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 29, 1999

    Mr. Baucus (for himself, Mr. Grams, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. Wyden) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                          Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To grant the President authority to proclaim the elimination or staged 
        rate reduction of duties on certain environmental goods.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) United States trade policy should facilitate export of 
        American products which improve the quality of life.
            (2) United States firms possess a variety of technologies 
        which can measure, limit, and prevent environmental damage.
            (3) The World Trade Organization is considering a proposal 
        generated in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to 
        reduce barriers to trade in environmental products. The 
        proposal includes the elimination of tariff barriers on such 
        products.
            (4) Eliminating such tariffs would benefit both the 
        environment and United States exporters.
            (5) The President, after consultation with Congress, should 
        have the authority to enter into a broad-based agreement to 
        eliminate tariff barriers with respect to environmental 
        products under the auspices of the World Trade Organization.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to reduce barriers to international 
trade in environmental products.

SEC. 3. PROCLAMATION AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--If the President determines that any existing duty 
or other import restriction of any foreign country or the United States 
is unduly burdening or restricting the foreign trade of the United 
States with respect to an environmental product described in subsection 
(b) and the United States enters into an agreement to eliminate or 
reduce the duty or remove the burden or restriction with respect to 
such product as part of a multilateral negotiation under the auspices 
of the World Trade Organization, the President may proclaim the 
elimination or staged rate reductions of any duty on such environmental 
product.
    (b) Environmental Product Described.--An environmental product 
described in this subsection means--
            (1) any product used to measure, prevent, limit, or correct 
        environmental damage to water, air, and soil;
            (2) any product used to address environmental problems 
        related to waste, noise, and ecosystems; and
            (3) any technology, process, and product which reduces 
        environmental risk and minimizes pollution or use of materials.
    (c) Consultation and Layover.--Any duty elimination or staged rate 
reduction provided for in this Act may be proclaimed only if the 
President--
            (1) has obtained advice regarding the proposed action from 
        the appropriate advisory committees established under section 
        135 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155) and the 
        International Trade Commission;
            (2) has submitted a report to the Committee on Ways and 
        Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
        Finance of the Senate that sets forth--
                    (A) the action proposed to be proclaimed;
                    (B) the reasons for such action; and
                    (C) the advice obtained under paragraph (1); and
            (3) has consulted with the committees regarding the 
        proposed action during the 60-calendar day period, beginning on 
        the first day after the day on which the President has met the 
        requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2).
                                 <all>