[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1677 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1677

To amend the Exchange Rates and International Economic Coordination Act 
                    of 1988 and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 21, 2007

 Mr. Dodd (for himself, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Bunning, Mr. Carper, 
Mr. Brown, Mr. Casey, and Ms. Stabenow) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Exchange Rates and International Economic Coordination Act 
                    of 1988 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 ``Currency Reform and Financial 
Markets Access Act of 2007''.

TITLE I--EXCHANGE RATES AND INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY COORDINATION 
                              ACT OF 1988

SEC. 101. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    Section 3003 of the Exchange Rates and International Economic 
Policy Coordination Act of 1988 (22 U.S.C. 5303) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (3);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (4) and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) the United States, and other major industrialized 
        countries, should, where appropriate, work together, through 
        bilateral and multilateral discussions and international 
        economic institutions, to ensure that the rate of exchange of 
        the currencies of the major trading nations and the United 
        States dollar--
                    ``(A) reflect economic fundamentals and market 
                forces; and
                    ``(B) contribute to the growth and balance of the 
                international economy; and
            ``(6) the United States should take all appropriate and 
        necessary measures to ensure that the major trading partners of 
        the United States are not engaged in hidden or unfair subsidies 
        through management of their currency or international exchange 
        rates.''.

SEC. 102. FAIR CURRENCY.

    (a) In General.--Section 3004(b) of the Exchange Rates and 
International Economic Policy Coordination Act of 1988 (22 U.S.C. 
5304(b)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(b) Bilateral Negotiations.--
            ``(1) Analysis.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        analyze on an annual basis the exchange rate policies of 
        foreign countries, in consultation with the International 
        Monetary Fund, and consider whether any country, regardless of 
        intent, manipulates the rate of exchange between its currency 
        and the United States dollar in a manner that--
                    ``(A) prevents effective balance of payments 
                adjustments;
                    ``(B) gains an unfair competitive advantage in 
                international trade; or
                    ``(C) results in an accumulation of substantial 
                dollar currency reserves.
            ``(2) Determination.--The Secretary shall make an 
        affirmative determination that a country is manipulating its 
        currency and take the action described in paragraphs (3), (4), 
        and (5) with respect to any country the Secretary considers is 
        manipulating its currency as described in paragraph (1), if 
        that country--
                    ``(A) has a material global current account 
                surplus;
                    ``(B) has significant bilateral trade surpluses 
                with the United States; and
                    ``(C) has engaged in prolonged one-way intervention 
                in the currency markets.
            ``(3) Action.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In the case of any country with 
                respect to which the Secretary makes an affirmative 
                determination under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall, 
                not later than 30 days after the determination is made, 
                establish a plan of action to remedy the currency 
                manipulation, and submit a report regarding that plan, 
                to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 
                of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services 
                of the House of Representatives.
                    ``(B) Benchmarks.--The report described in 
                subparagraph (A) shall include specific benchmarks and 
                timeframes for correcting the currency manipulation.
            ``(4) Initial negotiations.--The Secretary shall initiate, 
        on an expedited basis, bilateral negotiations with each country 
        with respect to which an affirmative determination is made 
        under paragraph (2) for the purpose of ensuring that the 
        country regularly and promptly adjusts the rate of exchange 
        between its currency and the United States dollar to permit 
        effective balance of payment adjustments and to eliminate the 
        unfair competitive advantage.
            ``(5) Coordination with the international monetary fund.--
        The Secretary, within 30 days of the determination made under 
        paragraph (2), shall instruct the Executive Director to the 
        International Monetary Fund to use the voice and vote of the 
        United States, including requesting consultations under Article 
        IV of the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary 
        Fund, for the purpose of ensuring that each country with 
        respect to which an affirmative determination is made under 
        paragraph (2) regularly and promptly adjusts the rate of 
        exchange between its currency and the United States dollar to 
        permit effective balance of payments adjustments and to 
        eliminate the unfair competitive advantage in trade.
            ``(6) Follow-up report.--Not later than 300 days after an 
        affirmative determination is made under paragraph (2), if the 
        country with respect to which the affirmative determination is 
        made continues to manipulate the rate of exchange between its 
        currency and the United States dollar and the benchmarks in the 
        report required under paragraph (3) have not been met, the 
        Secretary shall initiate action pursuant to the Understanding 
        on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes 
        annexed to the WTO Agreement to address the country's currency 
        manipulation and violations of the country's obligations under 
        article XV of GATT 1994.
            ``(7) Exception.--The Secretary is not required to initiate 
        action in any case in which the President determines that the 
        action will have a serious detrimental impact on the vital 
        economic and security interests of the United States. If the 
        President makes a determination under the preceding sentence, 
        the President shall inform the chairman and the ranking 
        minority member of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
        Affairs of the Senate and of the Committee on Financial 
        Services of the House of Representatives of the President's 
        determination.''.
    (b) Definitions.--Section 3006 of the Exchange Rates and 
International Economic Coordination Act of 1988 (22 U.S.C. 5306) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) GATT 1994.--The term `GATT 1994' has the meaning 
        given such term in section 2(1)(B) of the Uruguay Round 
        Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501(1)(B)).
            ``(4) WTO agreement.--The term `WTO Agreement' means the 
        Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization entered 
        into on April 15, 1994.''.

SEC. 103. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 3005 of the Exchange Rates and International Economic 
Policy Coordination Act of 1988 (22 U.S.C. 5305) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``In furtherance'' and inserting 
                the following:
            ``(1) In general.--In furtherance''; and
                    (B) by striking the last sentence; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Appearances before the congress.--The Secretary shall 
        appear before the Congress at semi-annual hearings to provide 
        testimony on the reports referred to in paragraph (1)--
                    ``(A) before the Committee on Banking, Housing and 
                Urban Affairs of the Senate on or about October 15 of 
                each even numbered calendar year and on or about April 
                15 of each odd numbered calendar year;
                    ``(B) before the Committee on Financial Services of 
                the House of Representatives on or about April 15 of 
                each even numbered calendar year and on or about 
                October 15 of each odd numbered calendar year; and
                    ``(C) before either Committee referred to in 
                subparagraph (A) or (B), upon request of the Chairman, 
                following the scheduled appearance of the Secretary 
                before the other Committee.''.

SEC. 104. CONGRESSIONAL DETERMINATION OF CURRENCY MANIPULATION.

    The Exchange Rates and International Economic Policy Coordination 
Act of 1988 (22 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 
section 3004 the following:

``SEC. 3004A. ACTION BASED ON COMMITTEE RESOLUTION.

    ``(a) In General.--In this section, the term `joint resolution' 
means only a joint resolution introduced in the period beginning on the 
date on which the report referred to section 3004(b)(3) of the Exchange 
Rates and International Economic Policy Coordination Act of 1988 is 
received by the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs of the 
Senate or the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives and ending 60 days thereafter (excluding days either 
House of Congress is adjourned for more than 3 days during a session of 
Congress), the matter after the resolving clause of which is as 
follows: `That Congress disapproves of the determination of the 
Secretary of the Treasury relating to the finding of currency 
manipulation as described in section 3004(b) of the Exchange Rates and 
International Economic Policy Coordination Act of 1988 in the report 
relating to ________, submitted on ___________.', with the first blank 
space being filled with the name of the country (or countries) to which 
the determination relates and the second blank space being filled with 
the date the report was submitted.
    ``(b) Procedures for Considering Resolutions.--
            ``(1) Original resolutions.--Resolutions of disapproval 
        shall be original resolutions, which--
                    ``(A) in the House of Representatives shall 
                originate from the Committee on Financial Services and, 
                in addition, be referred to the Committee on Rules; and
                    ``(B) in the Senate shall originate from the 
                Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
            ``(2) Floor consideration.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as otherwise provided in 
                this section, the provisions of subsections (d) through 
                (f) of section 152 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 
                2192(d) through (f)) (relating to floor consideration 
                of certain resolutions in the House and Senate) apply 
                to a joint resolution of disapproval under this section 
                to the same extent as such subsections apply to joint 
                resolutions under such section 152.
                    ``(B) Modification of section 152.--Section 152(f) 
                of the Trade Act of 1974 shall be applied--
                            ``(i) by substituting `described in section 
                        3004A of the Exchange Rates and International 
                        Economic Policy Coordination Act of 1988' for 
                        `described in section 152 or 153(a), whichever 
                        is applicable,' in paragraph (2); and
                            ``(ii) by substituting `a joint resolution 
                        described in section 3004A of the Exchange 
                        Rates and International Economic Policy 
                        Coordination Act of 1988' for `a joint 
                        resolution described in subsection (a)(2)(B)' 
                        in paragraph (3).
    ``(c) Rules of House of Representatives and Senate.--This section 
is enacted by the Congress--
            ``(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the House 
        of Representatives and the Senate, respectively, and as such 
        are deemed a part of the rules of each House, respectively, and 
        such procedures supersede other rules only to the extent that 
        they are inconsistent with such other rules; and
            ``(2) with the full recognition of the constitutional right 
        of either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the 
        procedures of that House) at any time, in the same manner, and 
        to the same extent as any other rule of that House.''.

                TITLE II--FINANCIAL REPORTS ACT OF 1988

SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

    This title may be cited as the ``Promoting Market Access for 
Financial Services Act''.

SEC. 202. REPORT ON FOREIGN TREATMENT OF UNITED STATES FINANCIAL 
              INSTITUTIONS.

    The Financial Reports Act of 1988 (22 U.S.C. 5351 et seq.) is 
amended--
            (1) in section 3602--
                    (A) by striking ``quadrennial'' and inserting 
                ``annual'' in the heading;
                    (B) by striking ``not less frequently than every 4 
                years, beginning December 1, 1990'' and inserting 
                ``beginning July 1, 2008, and annually thereafter,''; 
                and
                    (C) by striking ``to the Congress'' and inserting 
                ``to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial 
                Services of the House of Representatives'';
            (2) in section 3603--
                    (A) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), and (d) 
                as subsections (c), (d), and (e), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after subsection (a), the 
                following:
    ``(b) Report on SED.--The Secretary shall include in the initial 
report required under section 3602 a summary of the results of the most 
recent US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) and the results of 
the SED as it relates to promoting market access for financial 
institutions. The reports required under section 3602 shall include a 
progress report on the implementation of any agreements resulting from 
the SED, a description of the remaining challenges, if any, in 
improving market access for financial institutions, and a plan, 
including benchmarks and timeframes, for dealing with the remaining 
challenges. Each report shall specifically address issues regarding--
            ``(1) foreign investment rules;
            ``(2) the problems of a dual-share stock market;
            ``(3) the openness of the derivatives market;
            ``(4) restrictions on foreign bank branching;
            ``(5) the ability to offer insurance (including innovative 
        products); and
            ``(6) regulatory and procedural transparency.''.
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