[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5578 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5578

  To support the domestic shrimping industry by eliminating taxpayer 
       subsidies for certain competitors, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 8, 2002

 Mr. Paul (for himself, Mr. Kingston, and Mr. Jones of North Carolina) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on Resources and 
International Relations, 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 support the domestic shrimping industry by eliminating taxpayer 
       subsidies for certain competitors, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Shrimp Importation Financing 
Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States domestic shrimping industry is a 
        vital social and economic force for many coastal communities 
        across the United States, affecting not simply those who own 
        and operate shrimp boats but entire community economies 
        including food processors, hoteliers and restaurateurs, grocery 
        markets, and all those who work in and service these industries 
        and others.
            (2) In addition to the economic importance of the domestic 
        shrimping industry, the industry serves as a key source of safe 
        domestic foods at a time when the nation is engaged in 
        hostilities abroad.
            (3) Many nations have blocked the importation of shrimp 
        from certain foreign countries because of their contamination 
        with various substances, but the United States Government has 
        yet to take any such action.
            (4) Existing international trade agreements are ostensibly 
        designed to decrease not just government regulation of trade 
        but also government trade subsidies.
            (5) The domestic shrimping industry has been highly 
        regulated by the Federal Government through Federal 
        requirements of usage of items, such as by-catch reduction 
        devices and turtle excluder devices (in this Act referred to as 
        ``TEDs''), which result in a significant loss of product per 
        trawl, hence damaging the competitive position and market share 
        of the domestic shrimping fishery.
            (6) Seven non-NAFTA foreign countries (Thailand, Vietnam, 
        India, China, Ecuador, Indonesia, and Brazil) have taken 
        advantage of this Government-imposed reduction in 
        competitiveness, by each exporting in excess of 20,000,000 
        pounds of shrimp to the United States in the first 6 months of 
        this year.
            (7) These foreign countries account for nearly 70 percent 
        of all shrimp consumed in the United States in the first 6 
        months of this year and nearly 80 percent of all shrimp 
        imported to this country in the same period.
            (8) In the last 3 years our Government has provided more 
        than $1,800,000,000 in financing and insurance for these 
        foreign countries through the Overseas Private Investment 
        Corporation, and our Government's current exposure relative to 
        these countries through our Export-Import Bank totals some 
        $14,800,000,000, bringing the total subsidy of these countries 
        by the United States to over $16,500,000,000.
            (9) Many of these countries are not market-oriented, and 
        hence their participation in United States-supported 
        international finance regimes amounts to a direct subsidy by 
        American taxpayers in the shrimping sector of their 
        international competitors.
            (10) In any case, any national economy that benefits 
        directly from participation in these finance regimes indirectly 
        grants benefits to our foreign shrimping competitors simply 
        because of the fungibility of funds.
            (11) The level of imports of shrimp by the United States 
        from these countries has compounded the anticompetitive affects 
        of our current Federal regulatory regime in this sector, 
        leading to a depression of the price of shrimp.
            (12) There is a crisis developing in the domestic shrimping 
        industry, as evidenced by the fact that the National Marine 
        Fisheries Service, the lead Federal agency in regulating the 
        domestic shrimping fishery, has recently held briefings with 
        staff of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and with 
        industry representatives, to discuss this crisis and seek 
        solutions thereto.
            (13) Despite this meeting, the National Marine Fisheries 
        Service has not announced that it will forego future regulatory 
        encumbrances upon the domestic shrimping industry such as 
        previously proposed TEDs modifications that would further harm 
        competitiveness of the domestic shrimping fishery.

SEC. 3. MORATORIUM ON RESTRICTIVE REGULATIONS ON DOMESTIC SHRIMPING 
              INDUSTRY.

    The Secretary of Commerce shall not impose any new restrictive 
regulations on the domestic shrimping industry, including the proposed 
regulations modifying requirements relating to turtle excluder devices 
published on October 2, 2001, except as authorized by a law enacted 
after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. BAN ON OPIC FINANCING AND INSURANCE TO COUNTRIES EXPORTING 
              EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF SHRIMP.

    The Overseas Private Investment Corporation may not issue any 
contract of insurance or reinsurance or any guaranty, or enter into any 
agreement to provide financing, in connection with a project undertaken 
or to be undertaken in a country which exported more than 20,000,000 
pounds of shrimp to the United States in the first 6 months of calendar 
year 2002, until 3 months after the foreign country has reduced its 
shrimp exports to the United States to less than 3,000,000 pounds per 
month for a period of 3 consecutive months.

SEC. 5. UNITED STATES OPPOSITION TO IMF ASSISTANCE TO COUNTRIES 
              EXPORTING EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF SHRIMP TO THE UNITED 
              STATES IN FIRST 6 MONTHS OF 2002.

    The Bretton Woods Agreements Act (12 U.S.C. 635(b)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 64. OPPOSITION TO IMF ASSISTANCE TO COUNTRIES EXPORTING 
              EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF SHRIMP TO THE UNITED STATES IN FIRST 
              6 MONTHS OF 2002.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the 
United States Executive Director at the Fund to use the voice, vote, 
and influence of the United States to oppose the provision by the Fund 
of assistance in any form to any foreign country which exported to the 
United States more than 20,000,000 pounds of shrimp in the first 6 
months of calendar year 2002, until 3 months after the foreign country 
has reduced its shrimp exports to the United States to less than 
3,000,000 pounds per month for a period of 3 consecutive months.
    ``(b) Reduction of United States Contributions.--
            ``(1) In general.--If, during the first 3-month period 
        referred to in subsection (a), the Fund provides assistance in 
        any form to a foreign country referred to in subsection (a), 
        the Secretary of the Treasury shall reduce the amount otherwise 
        authorized to be contributed by the United States to the Fund 
        in first fiscal year that begins after the provision of the 
        assistance by a percentage equal to--
                    ``(A) the amount contributed by the United States 
                to the Fund in the fiscal year in which the assistance 
                is so provided, divided by the total of the amounts 
                contributed to the Fund by all member countries in the 
                fiscal year in which the assistance is so provided; 
                multiplied by
                    ``(B) the total amount of assistance provided by 
                the Fund to the foreign country in the fiscal year 
                referred to in subparagraph (A), divided by the total 
                amount of assistance provided by the Fund to all 
                countries in the fiscal year referred to in 
                subparagraph (A).
            ``(2) Continuation of reductions if necessary to recover 
        full amount of opposed assistance.--The Secretary shall 
        continue to reduce the amount otherwise authorized to be 
        contributed by the United States to the Fund for succeeding 
        fiscal years until the total amount of the reductions under 
        paragraph (1) with respect to the foreign country equals the 
        amount of the assistance referred to in paragraph (1) with 
        respect to the foreign country.
    ``(c) Notice to the Congress of Amount of Impending Reduction.--
Within 60 legislative days after the Fund, during the first 3-month 
period referred to in subsection (a), provides assistance in any form 
to a foreign country referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of 
the Treasury shall--
            ``(1) determine the amount by which the United States 
        contribution to the Fund is required to be reduced under 
        subsection (b); and
            ``(2) notify the Committee on Financial Services of the 
        House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations 
        of the Senate of the amount of the required reduction.''.

SEC. 6. BAN ON EXPORT-IMPORT BANK ASSISTANCE TO COUNTRIES EXPORTING 
              EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF SHRIMP TO THE UNITED STATES IN FIRST 
              6 MONTHS OF 2002.

    Section 2(b) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 
635(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(13) The Bank may not guarantee, insure, or extend (or 
participate in the extension of) credit in connection with the export 
of any good or service to any foreign country which exported to the 
United States more than 20,000,000 pounds of shrimp in the first 6 
months of calendar year 2002, until 3 months after the foreign country 
has reduced its shrimp exports to the United States to less than 
3,000,000 pounds per month for a period of 3 consecutive months.''.
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