[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 55 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 55

   Establishing objectives for the next round of multilateral trade 
                             negotiations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 8, 1999

  Mr. Baucus submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Establishing objectives for the next round of multilateral trade 
                             negotiations.

Whereas obtaining open, equitable, and reciprocal market access will benefit 
        both the United States and its trading partners;
Whereas eliminating or reducing trade barriers and trade distorting practices 
        will enhance export opportunities for American industry, agricultural 
        products, and services;
Whereas strengthening international disciplines on restrictive or trade-
        distorting import and export practices will improve the global 
        commercial environment;
Whereas preserving existing rules that prohibit unfair trade practices is a 
        necessary adjunct to promoting commerce;
Whereas expanding trade will foster economic growth required for full employment 
        in the United States and the global economy;
Whereas growth in international trade has immediate and significant consequences 
        for sound natural resource use and environmental protection, and for the 
        practice of sustainable development;
Whereas the World Trade Organization is the single most important mechanism by 
        which global commerce is regulated; and
Whereas the United States will host the World Trade Organization Ministerial 
        Meeting in Seattle in November 1999: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),

SECTION 1. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that the executive branch of the 
Government should pursue the objectives described in this concurrent 
resolution in any negotiations undertaken with respect to the next 
round of multilateral trade negotiations at the World Trade 
Organization Ministerial Meeting in Seattle, Washington.

SEC. 2. AGRICULTURE.

    The negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to 
agriculture should be the following:
            (1) To eliminate all current and prohibit all future price 
        subsidies and export taxes.
            (2) To negotiate stronger disciplines on state-owned 
        trading enterprises, including cross-subsidization, reserved 
        market share, and price undercutting.
            (3) With respect to tariffs, to pursue zero-for-zero or 
        harmonization agreements for products where current tariff 
        levels are so disparate that proportional reductions would 
        yield an unbalanced result.
            (4) To target peak tariffs for reduction on a specific 
        timetable.
            (5) To eliminate all tariffs that are less than 5 percent.
            (6) To negotiate an agreement that binds all tariffs at 
        zero wherever possible.
            (7) To phase out all tariff rate quotas.
            (8) To eliminate all market-distorting domestic subsidies.
            (9) To eliminate technology-based discrimination of 
        agricultural commodities.
            (10) To negotiate agriculture and nonagriculture issues as 
        a single undertaking, with full implementation of any early 
        agreement contingent on an acceptable final package.
            (11) To reach agreements to eliminate unilateral 
        agricultural sanctions as a tool of foreign policy.

SEC. 3. SERVICES.

    The negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to 
services should be the following:
            (1) To achieve binding commitments on market access and 
        national treatment.
            (2) To achieve broad participation from all World Trade 
        Organization members in the negotiation of any agreement.
            (3) To proceed on a ``negative list'' basis so that all 
        services will be covered unless specifically listed.
            (4) To prevent discrimination based on the mode of 
        delivery, including electronic delivery.
            (5) To negotiate disciplines on transparency and 
        responsiveness of domestic regulations of services.

SEC. 4. INDUSTRIAL MARKET ACCESS.

    The negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to 
industrial market access should be the following:
            (1) To pursue zero-for-zero or harmonization agreements for 
        products where current tariff levels are so disparate that 
        proportional reductions would yield an unbalanced result.
            (2) To target peak tariffs for reduction on a specific 
        timetable.
            (3) To eliminate all tariffs that are less than 5 percent.
            (4) To negotiate agreements that bind tariffs at zero 
        wherever possible.
            (5) To achieve broad participation in all harmonization 
        efforts.
            (6) To expand the Information Technology Agreement product 
        coverage and participation.
            (7) To make duty-free treatment of electronic transmissions 
        permanent.
            (8) To negotiate short timetables for accelerated tariff 
        elimination in sectors identified in prior international trade 
        meetings, particularly in environmental goods.

SEC. 5. OTHER TRADE-RELATED ISSUES.

    The negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to 
other trade-related issues should be the following:
            (1) To achieve broad participation in Mutual Recognition 
        Agreements (MRA's) on product standards, conformity assessment, 
        and certification procedures.
            (2) To expand the scope of the Government Procurement 
        Agreement and make it part of the World Trade Organization 
        undertaking.
            (3) To strengthen protection of intellectual property, 
        including patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and industrial 
        layout.
            (4) To complete the harmonization of rules of origin.
            (5) To strengthen prohibitions against mandatory technology 
        transfer under the Trade-Related Investment Measures Agreement.
            (6) To broaden agreements on customs-related issues to 
        facilitate the rapid movement of goods.
            (7) To make permanent and binding the moratorium on tariffs 
        on electronic transmissions.
            (8) To establish a consensus that electronic commerce is 
        neither exclusively a good nor exclusively a service, and 
        develop rules for transparency, notification, and review of 
        domestic regulations.
            (9) To reach a global agreement on liberal treatment of 
        digital products in a technologically neutral manner.
            (10) To negotiate an agreement for determining when 
        multilateral environmental agreements are consistent with the 
        principles of the World Trade Organization.
            (11) To undertake early review of potential environmental 
        impacts of all global agreements with a view toward mitigating 
        any adverse effects.
            (12) To reach agreement that goods and services produced by 
        forced, prison, or child labor are not protected by 
        international trade rules.
            (13) To establish a mechanism for joint research and 
        between the World Trade Organization and the International 
        Labor Organization (ILO).
            (14) To institute explicit procedures for inclusion of core 
        labor standards in the country reports of the World Trade 
        Organization Trade Policy Review Mechanism.

SEC. 6. WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION INSTITUTIONAL ISSUES.

    The negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to 
World Trade Organization institutional issues should be the following:
            (1) To reach agreement not to implement any new trade 
        restrictive measures during the 3-year negotiating period 
        beginning with the Seattle Ministerial Meeting.
            (2) To broaden membership in the World Trade Organization 
        by accelerating accessions.
            (3) To shorten the timeframes of dispute resolution.
            (4) To increase transparency, citizen access, and 
        responsiveness to submissions from nongovernmental 
        organizations.
            (5) To strengthen disciplines governing the coverage and 
        implementation of free trade agreements.
            (6) To reach an agreement to cooperate with the 
        International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for 
        Reconstruction and Development, United Nations organizations, 
        and international economic institutions in trade-related policy 
        matters.

SEC. 7. ISSUES NOT OPEN TO NEGOTIATION.

    In all negotiations, the United States Trade Representative should 
ensure that the negotiations do not weaken existing agreements or 
create opportunities for the imposition of new barriers in the 
following areas:
            (1) Dumping and antidumping.
            (2) Competition policy.
            (3) Investment.
            (4) Textiles and apparel.

SEC. 8. TRANSMITTAL OF RESOLUTION.

    The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this 
concurrent resolution to the President.
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