[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 124 (Wednesday, July 19, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S3397]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 938. Mr. LANKFORD submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle G of title X, add the following:
SEC. 1083. SUSPENSION OF NORMAL TRADE RELATIONS WITH PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The People's Republic of China has enjoyed normal trade
relations with the United States since its approval to join
the World Trade Organization on November 10, 2001, and formal
accession on December 10, 2001.
(2) The aggression of the People's Republic of China toward
Taiwan has increased in recent years, as incursions into
Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone by aircraft of the
People's Liberation Army increased 178 percent from 2021 to
2022.
(3) The economic coercion of the People's Republic of China
toward Taiwan has also increased in recent years, as the
People's Republic of China has banned the import of more than
2,000 food products from Taiwan since August 2022.
(4) The United States has a long-standing commitment to the
security of Taiwan and stability of cross-strait relations as
outlined in the Six Assurances, the three United States-
People's Republic of China Joint Communiques, and the Taiwan
Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.).
(5) In response to the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by
the Russian Federation, the United States revoked
nondiscriminatory treatment for imports from the Russian
Federation and Belarus on April 8, 2022.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the United States has a strong interest in deterring
the People's Republic of China from invading and seizing
control of Taiwan and should employ economic levers of
influence to promote and preserve a free and open Indo-
Pacific, including prevention of aggression by the People's
Republic of China toward Taiwan;
(2) aggression by the People's Republic of China toward
Taiwan would be a violation of international norms and
inconsistent with standards of conduct required for countries
enjoying normal trade relations in the United States market;
and
(3) the policies of the People's Republic of China violate
its obligations under the Protocol on the Accession of the
People's Republic of China, including nonmarket practices,
intellectual property theft, use of forced labor, and civil-
military fusion.
(c) Suspension of Normal Trade Relations.--If an entity of
the People's Republic of China, including the People's
Liberation Army, engages in an act of coercion or military
aggression that violates the sovereignty or territorial
integrity of Taiwan, as determined by the President--
(1) the rates of duty set forth in column 2 of the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States shall apply
to all products of the People's Republic of China; and
(2) the President shall proclaim increases in such rates of
duty with respect to such products.
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