[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2362 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2362
To establish a process for United States businesses to obtain
exclusions from certain duties imposed under section 301 of the Trade
Act of 1974 and section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 31, 2019
Mr. Whitehouse introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a process for United States businesses to obtain
exclusions from certain duties imposed under section 301 of the Trade
Act of 1974 and section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, 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 ``American Business Tariff Relief Act
of 2019''.
SEC. 2. EXCLUSION PROCESS FOR CERTAIN DUTIES IMPOSED UNDER SECTION 301
OF THE TRADE ACT OF 1974.
(a) In General.--Title III of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 311. EXCLUSION PROCESS.
``(a) In General.--Not later than the first date after the date of
the enactment of this section on which the United States Trade
Representative announces the imposition of additional duties under
section 301, the Trade Representative shall establish a process under
which United States businesses may request the exclusion of articles
from duties imposed under that section.
``(b) Requirements.--A United States business that seeks the
exclusion of an article from duties imposed under section 301 shall
submit to the Trade Representative information demonstrating that--
``(1) the article is not available from any source other
than a source that is subject to the duties; or
``(2) the imposition of such duties on the article would
cause economic harm to a United States interest.
``(c) Determinations.--Not later than 30 days after receiving a
request submitted under subsection (b) for the exclusion of an article
from duties imposed under section 301, the Trade Representative shall--
``(1) make a determination with respect to whether or not
to grant the exclusion; and
``(2) if the Trade Representative determines not to grant
the exclusion, provide to the United States business that
requested the exclusion a rationale for denying the exclusion.
``(d) Administration of Requests.--The Trade Representative shall--
``(1) establish a component within the Office of the United
States Trade Representative to be responsible for reviewing
requests for the exclusion of articles from duties imposed
under section 301; and
``(2) ensure the continued operation of that component
until all duties imposed under that section terminate.
``(e) Reports Required.--Not later than 90 days after establishing
the process required by subsection (a), and every 90 days thereafter,
the Trade Representative shall submit to the Committee on Finance of
the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of
Representatives a report that includes detailed information about
requests made pursuant to the process during the preceding 90-day
period and determinations made under subsection (c) with respect to
those requests.
``(f) United States Business Defined.--In this section, the term
`United States business' means an entity--
``(1) organized under the laws of the United States or any
jurisdiction within the United States; and
``(2) that employs workers in the United States.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Trade Act of
1974 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 310 the
following:
``Sec. 311. Exclusion process.''.
SEC. 3. EXCLUSION PROCESS FOR CERTAIN DUTIES IMPOSED UNDER SECTION 232
OF THE TRADE EXPANSION ACT OF 1962.
Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Exclusion Process.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than the first date after the
date of the enactment of this subsection on which the President
announces the imposition of additional duties under subsection
(c), the Secretary shall establish a process under which United
States businesses may request the exclusion of articles from
duties imposed under that section.
``(2) Requirements.--A United States business that seeks
the exclusion of an article from duties imposed under
subsection (c) shall submit to the Secretary information
demonstrating that--
``(A) the article is not available from any source
other than a source that is subject to the duties; or
``(B) the imposition of such duties on the article
would cause economic harm to a United States interest.
``(3) Determinations.--Not later than 30 days after
receiving a request submitted under paragraph (2) for the
exclusion of an article from duties imposed under subsection
(c), the Secretary shall--
``(A) make a determination with respect to whether
or not to grant the exclusion; and
``(B) if the Secretary determines not to grant the
exclusion, provide to the United States business that
requested the exclusion a rationale for denying the
exclusion.
``(4) Administration of requests.--The Secretary shall--
``(A) establish a component within the Department
of Commerce to be responsible for reviewing requests
for the exclusion of articles from duties imposed under
subsection (c); and
``(B) ensure the continued operation of that
component until all duties imposed under that
subsection terminate.
``(5) Reports required.--Not later than 90 days after
establishing the process required by paragraph (1), and every
90 days thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee
on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of
the House of Representatives a report that includes detailed
information about requests made pursuant to that process during
the preceding 90-day period and determinations made under
paragraph (3) with respect to those requests.
``(6) United states business defined.--In this subsection,
the term `United States business' means an entity--
``(A) organized under the laws of the United States
or any jurisdiction within the United States; and
``(B) that employs workers in the United States.''.
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