[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3688 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3688

 To provide for review in the Court of International Trade of certain 
  determinations of binational panels and committees under the North 
                     American Free Trade Agreement.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 8, 2003

Mr. Pickering introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for review in the Court of International Trade of certain 
  determinations of binational panels and committees under the North 
                     American Free Trade Agreement.

    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 ``Integrity of the United States 
Courts Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF BINATIONAL PANEL AND COMMITTEE DECISIONS.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle A of title IV of the North American Free 
Trade Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 3431 et seq.) is amended 
by inserting after section 404 the following new section:

``SEC. 404A. REVIEW OF BINATIONAL PANEL AND COMMITTEE DETERMINATIONS.

    ``(a) Basis for Review in Court of International Trade.--
            ``(1) In general.--If, within 30 days after publication in 
        the Federal Register of notice that a binational panel or 
        committee has issued a determination following a review under 
        article 1904 of a decision of a competent investigating 
        authority in the United States, a Party or person, referred to 
        in paragraph 5 of article 1904, alleges that--
                    ``(A)(i) the determination of the panel or 
                committee, as the case may be, was based on a 
                misinterpretation of United States law,
                    ``(ii) a member of a panel or committee was guilty 
                of gross misconduct, bias, or a serious conflict of 
                interest, or otherwise materially violated the rules of 
                conduct established for panelists or committee members, 
                respectively,
                    ``(iii) the panel or committee seriously departed 
                from a fundamental rule of procedure, or
                    ``(iv) the panel or committee manifestly exceeded 
                its powers, authority, or jurisdiction set out in 
                article 1904, such as failing to apply the appropriate 
                standard of review, and
                    ``(B) any element described in subparagraph (A) has 
                materially affected the decision of the panel or 
                committee and threatens the integrity of the binational 
                panel or committee review process,
        then such party or person may file an appeal with the United 
        States Court of International Trade, seeking review of the 
        binational panel or committee determination pursuant to section 
        516A of the Tariff Act of 1930.
            ``(2) Review in court of international trade where 
        binational panel or committee does not act.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If a request for a panel or 
                committee review has been made under article 1904, and 
                a panel or committee, as the case may be, is not 
                convened within 120 days after the request, a person, 
                referred to in paragraph 5 of article 1904, may 
                commence an action in the United States Court of 
                International Trade contesting the determination with 
                respect to which the request was filed. The 
                commencement of such an action shall be in accordance 
                with paragraph (1) or (2) of section 516A(a) of the 
                Tariff Act of 1930, notwithstanding the 30-day 
                limitation on the commencement of actions set forth in 
                such section 516A.
                    ``(B) Requests by other persons.--After an action 
                is commenced under subparagraph (A), any other person 
                may commence an action in accordance with the 
                requirements of paragraph (1) or (2) of section 516A(a) 
                of the Tariff Act of 1930 within 30 days after the date 
                the initial action is filed under this paragraph, but 
                only with respect to a claim that such person raised 
                before the panel or committee.
    ``(b) Decisions of the Court.--
            ``(1) In general.--In an appeal filed under subsection 
        (a)(1) for review of a binational panel or committee 
        determination, the Court of International Trade shall, after 
        examining the legal and factual analysis underlying the 
        findings and conclusions of the decision of the panel or 
        committee, as the case may be, determine whether any of the 
        elements described in subsection (a)(1)(A) has been 
        established. If the court finds that any of the elements has 
        been established, the court shall vacate the original panel or 
        committee decision and enter judgment accordingly. If the 
        elements are not established, the court shall affirm the 
        original binational panel or committee decision. Decisions of 
        the Court of International Trade under this paragraph shall be 
        binding on the parties with respect to the matters between the 
        parties that were before the panel or committee, as the case 
        may be.
            ``(2) Decisions where panel or committee not convened.--In 
        the case of an action for review of a determination filed under 
        subsection (a)(2), the Court of International Trade shall 
        conduct such review under section 516A(b) of the Tariff Act of 
        1930. Decisions of the Court of International Trade under this 
        paragraph shall be binding on all parties with respect to the 
        matters between the parties that would have been before a panel 
        or committee had the panel or committee been convened.
    ``(c) Exclusive Jurisdiction.--If a Party or person, referred to in 
paragraph 5 of article 1904, timely files a notice of appeal to the 
Court of International Trade pursuant to this section, the United 
States Court of International Trade shall have exclusive jurisdiction 
over the matter, and the determination of the United States Court of 
International Trade shall not be subject to review by an extraordinary 
challenge committee or binational panel.
    ``(d) Applicability.--This section applies to determinations by a 
binational panel or committee under NAFTA that involves an antidumping 
duty or countervailing duty determination of a competent investigating 
authority in the United States.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents of the North 
American Free Trade Implementation Act is amended by inserting after 
the item relating to section 404 the following:

``404A. Review of binational panel and committee determinations.''.

SEC. 3. JURISDICTION OF THE COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE.

    Section 516A of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1516a) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)(i)(I), by striking ``or 
                (viii)'' and inserting ``(viii), (ix), or (x)''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by adding at the end the 
                following:
                            ``(ix) A final determination of a 
                        binational panel convened pursuant to article 
                        1904 of the NAFTA.
                            ``(x) A final determination described in 
                        section 404A(a)(2) of the North American Free 
                        Trade Agreement Implementation Act.'';
            (2) in subsection (a)(5), in the matter preceding 
        subparagraph (A), by inserting ``(other than a determination 
        described in subsection (g)(3)(A)(vii))'' after ``apply''; and
            (3) in subsection (g)(3)(A)--
                    (A) in clause (v), by striking ``or'' at the end;
                    (B) in clause (vi), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``, or''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(vii) a determination of which either a 
                        Party or person, referred to in paragraph 5 of 
                        article 1904 of the NAFTA, has requested review 
                        pursuant to section 404A of the North American 
                        Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.''.

SEC. 4. APPLICATION TO CANADA AND MEXICO.

    Pursuant to article 1902 of the North American Free Trade Agreement 
and section 408 of the North American Free Trade Agreement 
Implementation Act, the amendments made by this Act shall apply with 
respect to goods from Canada and Mexico.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply to--
            (1) any final determination of a binational panel or 
        committee convened pursuant to article 1904 of the North 
        American Free Trade Agreement, notice of which is published in 
        the Federal Register on or after the date of enactment of this 
        Act; and
            (2) any request for panel or committee review to which 
        section 404A(a)(2) of the North American Free Trade Agreement 
        Implementation Act applies that is pending on or after the date 
        of enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>