[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 90 (Monday, May 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S3372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1967. Mr. HAGERTY (for himself and Mr. Warner) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 1502 proposed by Mr.
Schumer to the bill S. 1260, to establish a new Directorate for
Technology and Innovation in the National Science Foundation, to
establish a regional technology hub program, to require a strategy and
report on economic security, science, research, innovation,
manufacturing, and job creation, to establish a critical supply chain
resiliency program, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on
the table; as follows:
At the end of title III of division F, add the following:
SEC. 6302. PREVENTION OF ABUSE OF FLEXIBILITIES IN RULES AND
NEGOTIATIONS GIVEN BY THE WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATION TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
(a) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate
that--
(1) the World Trade Organization (WTO) was established to
catalyze economic growth and raise standards of living by
establishing international trade rules based on principles of
transparency, openness, and predictability;
(2) the WTO continues to use a dichotomy between developed
and developing countries that has allowed some WTO members to
gain unfair advantages in the international trade arena;
(3) China continues to declare itself a developing country
and avail itself of flexibilities under WTO rules;
(4) China has the second largest gross domestic product in
the world;
(5) China is the largest global exporter of goods and
accounts for more than 10 percent of total global exports of
goods;
(6) the outbound and inbound foreign direct investment of
China exceeds that of most member countries of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development;
(7) China, however, continues to declare itself a
developing country to enjoy the special and differential
treatment provisions that come with that status; and
(8) when the largest economies claim developing country
status, they potentially harm not only other developed
countries but also developing economies that require special
and differential treatment.
(b) Prevention of Abuse of Flexibilities.--
(1) In general.--The United States Trade Representative
shall use all available means as the Trade Representative
considers appropriate to secure changes at the World Trade
Organization that would prevent self-declared developing
countries from availing themselves of flexibilities in the
rules and negotiations at the WTO that are not justified by
appropriate economic and other indicators, as determined by
the Trade Representative.
(2) Cooperation.--The Trade Representative shall carry out
the requirements under paragraph (1) in cooperation with
other like-minded WTO members.
(3) Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Trade Representative shall submit
to Congress a report on the progress of the Trade
Representative in carrying out paragraph (1).
(c) Treatment by United States.--Not later than 270 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, if the Trade
Representative determines that substantial progress has not
been made toward securing the changes described in subsection
(b)(1), the Trade Representative shall, as the Trade
Representative considers appropriate, no longer treat as a
developing country for the purposes of the WTO any WTO member
that, in the judgment of the Trade Representative, is
improperly declaring itself a developing country and
inappropriately seeking the benefit of flexibilities in the
rules and negotiations at the WTO.
(d) Publication.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 270 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Trade Representative shall
publish on an internet website of the Office of the United
States Trade Representative a list of all self-declared
developing countries that the Trade Representative determines
are inappropriately seeking the benefit of developing-country
flexibilities in the rules of and negotiations by the WTO.
(2) Update.--The Trade Representative shall update the list
under paragraph (1) not less frequently than annually.
(e) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``World Trade
Organization'', ``WTO'', and ``WTO member'' have the meanings
given those terms in section 2 of the Uruguay Round
Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501).
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