[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4329 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4329

    To assess the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement 
 (NAFTA), to require further negotiation of certain provisions of the 
NAFTA, and to provide for the withdrawal from the NAFTA unless certain 
                          conditions are met.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 6, 2007

 Ms. Kaptur (for herself, Mrs. Boyda of Kansas, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Hare, 
   Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Michaud, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Ms. Sutton, and Mr. 
  Grijalva) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To assess the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement 
 (NAFTA), to require further negotiation of certain provisions of the 
NAFTA, and to provide for the withdrawal from the NAFTA unless certain 
                          conditions are met.

    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 ``NAFTA Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Rising deficits in united states trade accounts.--One 
        of the purposes of the North American Free Trade Agreement 
        (NAFTA), as stated in the preamble, is to ``create an expanded 
        and secure market'' for goods and services. Instead, the NAFTA 
        has resulted in a spiraling United States trade deficit with 
        Mexico and Canada that will exceed $135 billion in 2007, and 
        more than $919 billion since the agreement's inception. Rather 
        than harmonious development and expansion as envisioned and 
        growing trade surpluses for the United States, the NAFTA has 
        resulted in United States job losses and escalating trade 
        deficits which are draining more than $10 billion a month from 
        the United States economy.
            (2) Lack of fair agricultural trade.--United States 
        agriculture is 18 times more efficient than that of Mexico. One 
        of the purposes of the NAFTA is to reduce distortions to trade. 
        In addition, the NAFTA is supposed to promote conditions of 
        fair competition and to establish mutually-advantageous rules 
        governing trade. However, since the NAFTA, there has been a 
        rapid escalation of one-way trade of Canadian grain exports of 
        wheat, durum wheat, and barley to the United States, disrupting 
        markets and marketing channels. Surges in the importation of 
        certain Mexican fruits and vegetables threaten United States 
        domestic production and the importation of livestock and meat 
        products from the NAFTA Parties has exacerbated the severe 
        problems facing United States livestock producers. Surges in 
        United States farm exports to Mexico, such as yellow corn, 
        white corn, and dried beans have contributed to the collapse of 
        Mexico's ejido farm economy, dislodging over 4 million Mexican 
        peasants, with no transitional plan for their accommodation. 
        These landless peasants now wander the continent seeking 
        employment. Human exploitation of the landless peasants by 
        criminal elements has markedly increased. With the final 
        phaseout on December 31, 2007, of the tariff on white corn and 
        beans, it is estimated an additional one to two million Mexican 
        peasants will be uprooted from their farmlands, worsening the 
        situation and adding to the illegal immigration challenges 
        facing the United States.
            (3) Jobs, wages, and living standards.--One of the purposes 
        of the NAFTA is to ``create new employment opportunities and 
        improve working conditions and living standards'' in the 
        respective territories of the NAFTA Parties. Instead, there has 
        been a substantial loss of over 1 million living-wage jobs in 
        the United States and the collapse of Mexico's small farm and 
        indigenous business sector. A survey of United States companies 
        conducted 20 months after the implementation of the NAFTA found 
        that 90 percent of the companies that had anticipated an 
        increased number of jobs from the NAFTA have, in fact, not 
        increased employment since the NAFTA was implemented. In the 
        first year of the NAFTA's implementation, United States workers 
        had the sharpest drop of real hourly wages on record. In 
        Mexico, more than 1 million agricultural jobs alone have 
        evaporated since the implementation of the NAFTA while wages 
        stagnate around $4 per day. In addition to the loss of 
        purchasing power by workers in both nations, there has been 
        erosion in the standards of living in the United States, 
        Canada, and Mexico as poverty rates rise and real income 
        stagnates. Moreover, usurious remittance practices, whereby 
        Mexican workers in the United States transfer money back home 
        further trap workers in an unending cycle of exploitation. It 
        is estimated these remittances represent nearly $20 billion of 
        economic activity for Mexico, the second largest source of 
        income after petroleum. However, workers lose up to 40 percent 
        of the value of their wages in the transfer.
            (4) Erosion of the united states manufacturing base.--One 
        of the purposes of the NAFTA is to enhance the competitiveness 
        of firms in the global market. However, rather than increase 
        the ability of the manufacturing sector in the United States to 
        compete in the world market, the NAFTA has facilitated and 
        accelerated the outsourcing of United States manufacturing 
        facilities and jobs to lower-wage Mexico. The NAFTA has 
        contributed, conservatively, to a net loss of over 1 million 
        manufacturing jobs in the United States during the last 13 
        years. Conversely, Mexico has become an export platform 
        displacing United States production. An unprecedented flood of 
        imports of manufactured and agricultural goods now enter the 
        United States. Further, Mexico has experienced an outsourcing 
        of productivity to even lower-wage China, as Chinese imports to 
        Mexico have grown and are imported into the United States.
            (5) Deteriorating health and environment.--Other purposes 
        of the NAFTA are ``to safeguard the public welfare'' and ``to 
        strengthen the development and enforcement of environmental 
        laws and regulations''. Yet, since the implementation of the 
        NAFTA, the public welfare has been undermined by increased 
        imports of food products that do not meet United States health 
        standards and the lack of necessary environmental investment 
        along Mexico's northern border and the maquila zones. In 
        addition, the NAFTA has accelerated the relocation of United 
        States manufacturing facilities to Mexico's border zone, where 
        hundreds of new manufacturing plants have been added. Without 
        adequate environmental safeguards, the uncontrolled industrial 
        and population growth in the border zone has aggravated 
        pollution and health hazards, increasing the incidence of 
        infectious diseases and human exposure to toxins.
            (6) Rising illegal drugs and inadequate inspection.--Rather 
        than safeguarding the public welfare, the NAFTA has allowed the 
        increased flow of illegal drugs and controlled substances into 
        the United States from Mexico at accelerated rates. Almost all 
        cocaine and marijuana illegally entering the United States now 
        comes through Mexico, with an increasing portion carried by 
        trucks which undergo more limited inspection under the NAFTA. 
        Fewer than 2 percent of all cargo entering the United States in 
        inspected.
            (7) Weak protection of legal rights.--The promotion of 
        sustainable development as well as the protection and 
        enhancement of basic human rights are stated objectives of the 
        NAFTA. As envisioned, the NAFTA is to increase economic 
        opportunity together with expansion of political freedoms and 
        human rights. Yet these objectives are not being fulfilled, 
        especially in Mexico, where citizens continue to experience 
        greater infringements of such basic rights and freedoms. 
        Ordinary citizens frequently use the term ``impunity'' to 
        describe the lack of a transparent and just legal system. 
        United States businesses complain of corruption and lack of 
        fair play in Mexico's judicial and law enforcement systems.
            (8) NAFTA should not be expanded.--The Congress approved 
        the NAFTA in order to achieve economic, social, and 
        environmental benefits for the people of the United States. 
        Based on currently available information, the goals and 
        objectives of the NAFTA are not being achieved. Therefore, the 
        NAFTA should not be expanded to include any other country.
            (9) NAFTA to be renegotiated and benefits certified.--Based 
        on the experience with the NAFTA since its implementation, it 
        has become evident that further negotiation is required to 
        resolve fundamental inadequacies within the NAFTA with respect 
        to trade balances, currency differentials, health and 
        environmental conditions, agricultural provisions, systems of 
        justice, illegal immigration, and NADBANC operation. If the 
        NAFTA is to continue, Congress must require certification of 
        specific measures of economic, social, legal, and environmental 
        progress. Otherwise Congress has no choice but to withdraw its 
        approval of the NAFTA.

SEC. 3. CONDITIONS FOR CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN THE NAFTA.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Withdrawal of approval.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, unless each of the conditions described in 
        paragraph (2) is met--
                    (A) the approval of the NAFTA by the Congress 
                provided for in section 101(a) of the North American 
                Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act shall cease to 
                be effective beginning on October 1, 2009; and
                    (B) not later than April 1, 2009, the President 
                shall provide written notice of withdrawal to the 
                Governments of Canada and Mexico in accordance with 
                Article 2205 of the NAFTA.
            (2) Conditions for continuing participation in nafta.--The 
        conditions described in this paragraph are that before December 
        31, 2008--
                    (A) the President--
                            (i) renegotiate the terms of the NAFTA in 
                        accordance with paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of 
                        subsection (b); and
                            (ii) provide the certification to the 
                        Congress described in subsection (b)(8);
                    (B) the Secretary of Labor provide the 
                certification described in subsection (b)(4);
                    (C) the Secretary of Commerce provide the 
                certification described in subsection (b)(5);
                    (D) the Secretary of Agriculture and the 
                Administrator of the Food and Drug Administration 
                provide the certification described in subsection 
                (b)(6)(A);
                    (E) the Administrator of the Environmental 
                Protection Agency submit the certification and report 
                described in subsection (b)(6)(B); and
                    (F) the Attorney General of the United States 
                provide the certification described in subsection 
                (b)(7).
    (b) Areas of Renegotiation and Certification.--The areas of 
renegotiation and certification described in this subsection are as 
follows:
            (1) Renegotiate the nafta to correct trade deficits.--The 
        President is authorized and directed to confer with the 
        Governments of Canada and Mexico and to renegotiate the terms 
        of the NAFTA to provide for implementation of emergency 
        adjustments of tariffs, quotas, and other measures to stabilize 
        and balance the flow of trade among the NAFTA Parties when the 
        United States has an annual deficit in trade of goods and 
        services with another NAFTA Party that--
                    (A) exceeds 10 percent of United States exports to 
                that Party; or
                    (B) equals or exceeds $500,000,000 for three or 
                more consecutive years.
            (2) Renegotiate the nafta to correct currency 
        distortions.--The President is authorized and directed to 
        confer with the Governments of Canada and Mexico and to 
        renegotiate the terms of the NAFTA to provide for the 
        implementation of emergency adjustments of tariffs, quotas, and 
        other measures to mitigate the adverse effects of rapid or 
        substantial changes in exchange rates between the United States 
        dollar and the currency of another NAFTA Party.
            (3) Renegotiate the nafta to correct agricultural 
        provisions.--The President is authorized and directed to confer 
        with the Governments of Canada and Mexico and to renegotiate 
        the terms of the NAFTA to provide for the implementation of 
        emergency tariffs, quotas, and other measures to bring the 
        levels of wheat, durum wheat, and barley imported from Canada 
        to levels that are comparable to the levels of these products 
        imported during the 10-year period before the date the NAFTA 
        entered into force with respect to the United States. The 
        President is further authorized and directed to renegotiate the 
        terms of the NAFTA to establish and strengthen provisions to 
        prevent imports of agricultural commodities from any NAFTA 
        Party from unfairly displacing United States production, to 
        provide improved mechanisms for relief for United States 
        producers that are adversely impacted by such imports, and to 
        address the serious and growing problem of Mexico's displaced 
        ejido peasant farmers and crime associated with lawless zones 
        on both sides of the United States-Mexico border.
            (4) Certification of gains in united states jobs and living 
        standards.--If the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of 
        Agriculture, after consultation with appropriate government 
        agencies and citizen organizations, determine that--
                    (A) the number of jobs resulting from increased 
                exports of United States goods and services to other 
                NAFTA Parties exceeds the number of jobs lost because 
                of imports of goods and services from other NAFTA 
                Parties since January 1, 1994, and
                    (B) the purchasing power of wage-earners in the 
                United States has increased since January 1, 1994,
        the Secretaries shall so certify to the Congress.
            (5) Certification of increased domestic manufacturing.--If 
        the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Agriculture, 
        after consultation with the appropriate government agencies and 
        citizen organizations, determine that the export of United 
        States manufactured and agricultural goods to the NAFTA Parties 
        exceeds the imports of manufactured and agricultural goods from 
        the NAFTA Parties, the Secretaries shall so certify to the 
        Congress. In making the determination, the Secretaries shall 
        not include any goods originating outside the United States 
        that are exported to another NAFTA Party, nor imports from 
        another NAFTA Party that are destined for other countries.
            (6) Certification relating to health and environmental 
        standards.--
                    (A) In general.--If the Secretary of Agriculture 
                and the Administrator of the Food and Drug 
                Administration, after consultation with appropriate 
                government agencies and citizen organizations, 
                determine, with respect to imports from NAFTA Parties, 
                that since January 1, 1994, there has been a reduced 
                incidence of contaminated and adulterated food, food 
                containing additives or pesticide residues exceeding 
                United States standards, or food containing additives 
                or pesticide residues which cannot be legally used in 
                the United States, the Secretary and Administrator 
                shall so certify to the Congress. In making this 
                determination, all foods and food products, including 
                fruits, vegetables, grains, oilseeds, and meats, both 
                fresh and processed, shall be reviewed. Special 
                attention shall be given to foods which have had a 
                history of violations.
                    (B) Border area pollution.--If the Administrator of 
                the Environmental Protection Agency determines that 
                conditions affecting public health in the United 
                States-Mexico border zone have not worsened since 
                January 1, 1994, the Administrator shall so certify to 
                the Congress. In addition, the Administrator, in 
                consultation with the Secretariat for the NAFTA 
                Commission on Environmental Cooperation, shall report 
                to the Congress on the outcomes of the Administration's 
                investigations on pollution and health hazards in and 
                around the United States-Mexico border zone since the 
                implementation of the NAFTA and a plan to remedy such 
                pollution and health hazards. The report shall 
                include--
                            (i) a description and status report of all 
                        industrial site cleanup and environmental 
                        improvement projects begun in the border zone 
                        since January 1, 1994;
                            (ii) information available from local, 
                        State, and Federal health agencies reflecting 
                        the incidence since January 1, 1990, in and 
                        around the border zone of hepatitis, neural 
                        stem birth defects, lupus, chronic adolescent 
                        diarrhea, tuberculosis, nonneural birth 
                        defects, cholera, botulism, and other disorders 
                        commonly related to industrial pollution, 
                        inadequate infrastructures, and hazardous 
                        waste; and
                            (iii) information on the incidence of air 
                        and water pollution since January 1, 1990, and 
                        the causes, levels, and types of pollution 
                        which have occurred.
            (7) Certification relating to illegal drugs.--If the 
        Attorney General of the United States determines, after a 
        review by the Drug Enforcement Administration and consultation 
        with appropriate government agencies and citizen organizations, 
        that increased imports from the NAFTA Parties are not resulting 
        in an increase in crime with illegal drugs or other controlled 
        substances from Mexico or Canada, the Attorney General shall so 
        certify to the Congress. The Attorney General through the Drug 
        Enforcement Administration shall conduct a thorough review and 
        report to the Congress regarding the flow of illegal drugs from 
        Mexico and Canada and the relationship of such flow of illegal 
        drugs to trade of other commodities and services with the NAFTA 
        Parties and shall make recommendations to remedy the serious 
        challenges to law enforcement by such flow of illegal drugs.
            (8) Certification relating to democracy and human 
        freedoms.--If the President, after consultation with 
        appropriate government agencies, international organizations, 
        and citizen organizations, determines that the Government of 
        Mexico--
                    (A) is elected in free and fair elections,
                    (B) protects the rights of its citizens to organize 
                into political parties,
                    (C) protects the rights of its citizens to free 
                speech and the right of the news media to operate 
                without fear of government control or reprisal,
                    (D) protects the rights of its citizens to assemble 
                and to organize associations to advance human rights 
                and economic opportunities, and
                    (E) receives fair and impartial litigation of suits 
                and trials according to the rule of law in a 
                transparent justice system,
        the President shall so certify to the Congress.

SEC. 4. CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESS.

    The President shall consult at least semiannually with the Congress 
regarding the negotiations described in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of 
section 3(b). The United States Trade Representative shall consult with 
the appropriate committees of Congress in the development of any 
technical and conforming amendments that may be required to carry out 
the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT NAFTA NOT BE EXPANDED.

    Until such time as the conditions described in section 3(b) are 
met, it is the sense of the Congress that the President should not 
engage in negotiations to expand the NAFTA to include other countries 
and that trade promotion authority should not be renewed with respect 
to the approval of any such expansion of the NAFTA.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) NAFTA.--The term ``NAFTA'' means the North American 
        Free Trade Agreement entered into between the United States, 
        Canada, and Mexico on December 17, 1992.
            (2) NAFTA party.--The term ``NAFTA Party'' means the United 
        States, Canada, or Mexico.
            (3) United states-mexico border zone.--The term ``United 
        States-Mexico border zone'' means the area that comprises the 
        12-mile zone on the Mexican side of the United States-Mexico 
        border and the counties within any State of the United States 
        that are contiguous with Mexico.
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