[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6399 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6399

To require a report on the competitiveness of United States exports of 
                            specialty crops.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 14, 2023

Ms. Bonamici (for herself, Mr. Valadao, and Ms. Slotkin) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require a report on the competitiveness of United States exports of 
                            specialty crops.

    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 ``Specialty Crops Reporting on 
Opportunities and Promotion Act of 2023'' or the ``Specialty CROP Act 
of 2023''.

SEC. 2. REPORT ON COMPETITIVENESS OF UNITED STATES EXPORTS OF SPECIALTY 
              CROPS.

    Section 203(e)(7) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 
5623(e)(7)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(7) Annual report.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Each year, the Secretary, in 
                consultation with the United States Trade 
                Representative, shall submit to the appropriate 
                committees of Congress a report detailing the 
                competitiveness of United States exports of specialty 
                crops.
                    ``(B) Elements.--The report required by 
                subparagraph (A) shall--
                            ``(i) identify and analyze acts, policies, 
                        or practices of foreign countries that 
                        constitute significant barriers to, or 
                        distortions of United States exports of 
                        specialty crops, including the imposition of--
                                    ``(I) tariffs (including 
                                retaliatory tariffs) and quotas 
                                (including tariff-rate quotas); and
                                    ``(II) nontariff barriers, 
                                including technical barriers to trade, 
                                sanitary and phytosanitary measures, 
                                import licensing procedures, and 
                                subsidies;
                            ``(ii) make an estimate--
                                    ``(I) of the impacts on the 
                                competitiveness of United States 
                                exports of specialty crops of any act, 
                                policy, or practice identified under 
                                clause (i); and
                                    ``(II) if feasible, of the value of 
                                additional specialty crops that would, 
                                during the year preceding submission of 
                                the report, have been exported from the 
                                United States to each foreign country 
                                an act, policy, or practice of which is 
                                identified under clause (i) if each 
                                such act, policy, or practice of that 
                                country did not exist;
                            ``(iii) assess the extent to which each 
                        act, policy, or practice identified under 
                        clause (i) is subject to international 
                        agreements to which the United States is a 
                        party;
                            ``(iv) include information with respect to 
                        any action taken by the executive branch during 
                        the year preceding submission of the report, or 
                        expected to be taken after submission of the 
                        report, to eliminate any act, policy, or 
                        practice identified under clause (i), 
                        including--
                                    ``(I) any action under section 301;
                                    ``(II) negotiations or 
                                consultations with foreign governments, 
                                which may include engagement through 
                                the standing committee on sanitary and 
                                phytosanitary matters established under 
                                a free trade agreement to which the 
                                United States is a party; and
                                    ``(III) action at the World Trade 
                                Organization, including dispute 
                                settlement actions, consultations, or 
                                negotiations; and
                            ``(v) a description of--
                                    ``(I) any funds provided under 
                                subsection (f)(3)(A)(iv) that were not 
                                obligated in the fiscal year preceding 
                                submission of the report; and
                                    ``(II) the reason such funds were 
                                not obligated.
                    ``(C) Comment period.--Before preparing the report 
                required by subparagraph (A), the Secretary, in 
                coordination with the United States Trade 
                Representative, shall--
                            ``(i) seek comment from the public and the 
                        Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for 
                        Trade in Fruits and Vegetables; and
                            ``(ii) take such comments into account in 
                        preparing the report.
                    ``(D) Form of report.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The report required by 
                        subparagraph (A) shall be submitted in 
                        unclassified form, but may include a classified 
                        annex.
                            ``(ii) Public availability.--The 
                        unclassified portion of the report required by 
                        subparagraph (A) shall be made available to the 
                        public in machine readable format.''.
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