[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 974 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 974

   To amend title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 to provide that the 
provisions relating to countervailing duties apply to nonmarket economy 
                   countries, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 22, 2007

Ms. Collins (for herself, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Levin, Mr. Graham, Mr. Cochran, 
   Ms. Snowe, Mr. Harkin, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Schumer) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                          Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 to provide that the 
provisions relating to countervailing duties apply to nonmarket economy 
                   countries, 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 ``Stopping Overseas Subsidies Act''.

SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF COUNTERVAILING DUTIES TO NONMARKET ECONOMIES AND 
              STRENGTHENING APPLICATION OF THE LAW.

    (a) In General.--Section 701(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 
U.S.C. 1671(a)(1)) is amended by inserting ``(including a nonmarket 
economy country)'' after ``country'' each place it appears.
    (b) Use of Alternate Methodologies Involving China.--Section 
771(5)(E) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(5)(E)) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: ``If the administering authority 
encounters special difficulties in identifying and calculating the 
amount of a benefit under clauses (i) through (iv) with respect to an 
investigation or review involving the People's Republic of China, 
without regard to whether the administering authority determines that 
China is a nonmarket economy country under paragraph (18) of this 
section, the administering authority shall use methodologies to 
identify and calculate the amount of the benefit that take into account 
the possibility that terms and conditions prevailing in China may not 
always be available as appropriate benchmarks. In applying such 
methodologies, where practicable, the administering authority should 
take into account and adjust terms and conditions prevailing in China 
before using terms and conditions prevailing outside of China. If the 
administering authority determines that China is a nonmarket economy 
country under paragraph (18) of this section, the administering 
authority shall presume, absent a demonstration of compelling evidence 
to the contrary, that special difficulties exist in calculating the 
amount of a benefit under clauses (i) through (iv) with respect to an 
investigation or review involving China and that it is not practicable 
to take into account and adjust terms and conditions prevailing in 
China, and the administering authority shall use terms and conditions 
prevailing outside of China.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) 
apply to petitions filed under section 702 of the Tariff Act of 1930 
(19 U.S.C. 1671a) on or after October 1, 2006.
    (d) Antidumping Provisions Not Affected.--The amendments made by 
subsections (a) and (b) shall not affect the status of a country as a 
nonmarket economy country for the purposes of any matter relating to 
antidumping duties under subtitle B of title VII of the Tariff Act of 
1930 (19 U.S.C. 1673 et seq.).
    (e) Rule of Construction.--The amendments made by subsections (a) 
and (b) shall not be construed to affect the interpretation of any 
provision of law as in effect on the day before the date of the 
enactment of this Act with respect to the application of countervailing 
duties to nonmarket economy countries.

SEC. 3. REVOCATION OF NONMARKET ECONOMY COUNTRY STATUS.

    (a) Amendment of Definition of ``Nonmarket Economy Country''.--
Section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
1677(18)(C)(i)) is amended to read as follows:
                            ``(i) Any determination that a foreign 
                        country is a nonmarket economy country shall 
                        remain in effect until--
                                    ``(I) the administering authority 
                                makes a final determination to revoke 
                                the determination under subparagraph 
                                (A); and
                                    ``(II) a joint resolution is 
                                enacted into law pursuant to section 3 
                                of the Stopping Overseas Subsidies 
                                Act.''.
    (b) Notification by President; Joint Resolution.--Whenever the 
administering authority makes a final determination under section 
771(18)(C)(i)(I) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
1677(18)(C)(i)(I)) to revoke the determination that a foreign country 
is a nonmarket economy country--
            (1) the President shall notify the Committee on Finance of 
        the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
        Representatives of that determination not later than 10 days 
        after the publication of the administering authority's final 
        determination in the Federal Register;
            (2) the President shall transmit to the Congress a request 
        that a joint resolution be introduced pursuant to this section; 
        and
            (3) a joint resolution shall be introduced in the Congress 
        pursuant to this section.
    (c) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``joint 
resolution'' means only a joint resolution of the 2 Houses of the 
Congress, the matter after the resolving clause of which is as follows: 
``That the Congress approves the change of nonmarket economy status 
with respect to the products of _____ transmitted by the President to 
the Congress on _____.'', the first blank space being filled in with 
the name of the country with respect to which a determination has been 
made under section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
1677(18)(C)(i)), and the second blank space being filled with the date 
on which the President notified the Committee on Finance of the Senate 
and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives 
under subsection (b)(1).
    (d) Introduction.--A joint resolution shall be introduced (by 
request) in the House of Representatives by the majority leader of the 
House, for himself, or by Members of the House designated by the 
majority leader of the House, and shall be introduced (by request) in 
the Senate by the majority leader of the Senate, for himself, or by 
Members of the Senate designated by the majority leader of the Senate.
    (e) Amendments Prohibited.--No amendment to a joint resolution 
shall be in order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, 
and no motion to suspend the application of this subsection shall be in 
order in either House, nor shall it be in order in either House for the 
presiding officer to entertain a request to suspend the application of 
this subsection by unanimous consent.
    (f) Period for Committee and Floor Consideration.--
            (1) In general.--If the committee or committees of either 
        House to which a joint resolution has been referred have not 
        reported the joint resolution at the close of the 45th day 
        after its introduction, such committee or committees shall be 
        automatically discharged from further consideration of the 
        joint resolution and it shall be placed on the appropriate 
        calendar. A vote on final passage of the joint resolution shall 
        be taken in each House on or before the close of the 15th day 
        after the joint resolution is reported by the committee or 
        committees of that House to which it was referred, or after 
        such committee or committees have been discharged from further 
        consideration of the joint resolution. If, prior to the passage 
        by one House of a joint resolution of that House, that House 
        receives the same joint resolution from the other House, then--
                    (A) the procedure in that House shall be the same 
                as if no joint resolution had been received from the 
                other House, but
                    (B) the vote on final passage shall be on the joint 
                resolution of the other House.
            (2) Computation of days.--For purposes of paragraph (1), in 
        computing a number of days in either House, there shall be 
        excluded any day on which that House is not in session.
    (g) Floor Consideration in the House.--
            (1) Motion privileged.--A motion in the House of 
        Representatives to proceed to the consideration of a joint 
        resolution shall be highly privileged and not debatable. An 
        amendment to the motion shall not be in order, nor shall it be 
        in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion is 
        agreed to or disagreed to.
            (2) Debate limited.--Debate in the House of Representatives 
        on a joint resolution shall be limited to not more than 20 
        hours, which shall be divided equally between those favoring 
        and those opposing the joint resolution. A motion further to 
        limit debate shall not be debatable. It shall not be in order 
        to move to recommit a joint resolution or to move to reconsider 
        the vote by which a joint resolution is agreed to or disagreed 
        to.
            (3) Motions to postpone.--Motions to postpone, made in the 
        House of Representatives with respect to the consideration of a 
        joint resolution, and motions to proceed to the consideration 
        of other business, shall be decided without debate.
            (4) Appeals.--All appeals from the decisions of the Chair 
        relating to the application of the Rules of the House of 
        Representatives to the procedure relating to a joint resolution 
        shall be decided without debate.
            (5) Other rules.--Except to the extent specifically 
        provided in the preceding provisions of this subsection, 
        consideration of a joint resolution shall be governed by the 
        Rules of the House of Representatives applicable to other bills 
        and resolutions in similar circumstances.
    (h) Floor Consideration in the Senate.--
            (1) Motion privileged.--A motion in the Senate to proceed 
        to the consideration of a joint resolution shall be privileged 
        and not debatable. An amendment to the motion shall not be in 
        order, nor shall it be in order to move to reconsider the vote 
        by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to.
            (2) Debate limited.--Debate in the Senate on a joint 
        resolution, and all debatable motions and appeals in connection 
        therewith, shall be limited to not more than 20 hours. The time 
        shall be equally divided between, and controlled by, the 
        majority leader and the minority leader or their designees.
            (3) Control of debate.--Debate in the Senate on any 
        debatable motion or appeal in connection with a joint 
        resolution shall be limited to not more than 1 hour, to be 
        equally divided between, and controlled by, the mover and the 
        manager of the joint resolution, except that in the event the 
        manager of the joint resolution is in favor of any such motion 
        or appeal, the time in opposition thereto shall be controlled 
        by the minority leader or his designee. Such leaders, or either 
        of them, may, from time under their control on the passage of a 
        joint resolution, allot additional time to any Senator during 
        the consideration of any debatable motion or appeal.
            (4) Other motions.--A motion in the Senate to further limit 
        debate is not debatable. A motion to recommit a joint 
        resolution is not in order.
    (i) Rules of House of Representatives and Senate.--Subsections (c) 
through (h) are enacted by the Congress--
            (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the House of 
        Representatives and the Senate, respectively, and as such 
        subsections (c) through (h) are deemed a part of the rules of 
        each House, respectively, but applicable only with respect to 
        the procedure to be followed in that House in the case of joint 
        resolutions described in subsection (c), and subsections (c) 
        through (h) supersede other rules only to the extent that they 
        are inconsistent therewith; and
            (2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of 
        either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the 
        procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner and to 
        the same extent as in the case of any other rule of that House.

SEC. 4. STUDY AND REPORT ON SUBSIDIES BY PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.

    (a) Study.--The United States International Trade Commission shall 
conduct a study, under section 332 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
1332), regarding how the People's Republic of China uses government 
intervention to promote investment, employment, and exports. The study 
shall comprehensively catalog, and when possible quantify, the 
practices and policies that central, provincial, and local government 
bodies in the People's Republic of China use to support and to attempt 
to influence decisionmaking in China's manufacturing enterprises and 
industries. Chapters of this study shall include, but not be limited 
to, the following:
            (1) Privatization and private ownership.
            (2) Nonperforming loans.
            (3) Price coordination.
            (4) Selection of industries for targeted assistance.
            (5) Banking and finance.
            (6) Utility rates.
            (7) Infrastructure development.
            (8) Taxation.
            (9) Restraints on imports and exports.
            (10) Research and development.
            (11) Worker training and retraining.
            (12) Rationalization and closure of uneconomic enterprises.
    (b) Report.--The Congress requests that--
            (1) not later than 9 months after the date of the enactment 
        of this Act, the International Trade Commission complete its 
        study under subsection (a), submit a report on the study to the 
        Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and 
        the Committee on Finance of the Senate, and make the report 
        available to the public; and
            (2) not later than 1 year after the report under paragraph 
        (1) is submitted, and annually thereafter through 2017, the 
        International Trade Commission prepare and submit to the 
        committees referred to in paragraph (1) an update of the report 
        and make the update of the report available to the public.
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