[House Report 116-614]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
116th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { 116-614
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RESOLUTION EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THAT
THE UNITED STATES SHOULD REAFFIRM ITS COMMITMENT AS A MEMBER OF THE
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO) AND WORK WITH OTHER WTO MEMBERS TO
ACHIEVE REFORMS AT THE WTO THAT IMPROVE THE SPEED AND PREDICTABILITY OF
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT, ADDRESS LONGSTANDING CONCERNS WITH THE WTO'S
APPELLATE BODY, INCREASE TRANSPARENCY AT THE WTO, ENSURE THAT WTO
MEMBERS INVOKE SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT RESERVED FOR
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ONLY IN FAIR AND APPROPRIATE CIRCUMSTANCES, AND
UPDATE THE WTO RULES TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF THE UNITED STATES AND
OTHER FREE AND OPEN ECONOMIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY
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December 2, 2020.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
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Mr. Neal, from the Committee on Ways and Means, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H. Res. 746]
The Committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the
resolution (H. Res. 746) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives that the United States should reaffirm its
commitment as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
and work with other WTO members to achieve reforms at the WTO
that improve the speed and predictability of dispute
settlement, address longstanding concerns with the WTO's
Appellate Body, increase transparency at the WTO, ensure that
WTO members invoke special and differential treatment reserved
for developing countries only in fair and appropriate
circumstances, and update the WTO rules to address the needs of
the United States and other free and open economies in the 21st
century, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
with amendments and recommends that the resolution as amended
be agreed to.
CONTENTS
Page
I. SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND............................................3
A. Purpose and Summary................................... 3
B. Background............................................ 3
C.Legislative History.................................... 4
II. EXPLANATION OF THE RESOLUTION.....................................4
III.VOTES OF THE COMMITTEE............................................5
IV. BUDGET EFFECTS OF THE BILL........................................5
A. Committee Estimate of Budgetary Effects............... 5
B. Statement Regarding New Budget Authority and Tax
Expenditures Budget Authority........................ 5
C. Cost Estimate Prepared by the Congressional Budget
Office............................................... 5
V. OTHER MATTERS TO BE DISCUSSED UNDER THE RULES OF THE HOUSE........5
A. Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations...... 5
B. Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives. 5
C. Information Relating to Unfunded Mandates............. 5
D. Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and
Limited Tariff Benefits.............................. 6
E. Duplication of Federal Programs....................... 6
VI. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE RESOLUTION, AS REPORTED.......6
The amendments are as follows:
Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the
following:
That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
(1) the United States should continue to lead reform efforts
to ensure that the World Trade Organization (WTO) functions as
agreed by the membership and is updated appropriately for the
21st century; and
(2) the United States should continue to urge other WTO
members to work with the United States to achieve needed
reforms so that the WTO and its members can address unjustified
barriers to trade and promote economic norms that improve the
standard of living across the world; and
(3) the United States Trade Representative should continue to
lead and work with other countries to pursue reforms at the WTO
that--
(A) address concerns with the WTO's Appellate Body;
(B) improve the efficiency and transparency of
dispute settlement proceedings;
(C) remediate the failure to satisfy notification
obligations of the various WTO agreements and develop
accountability mechanisms to address this issue
proactively;
(D) discipline the use of special and differential
treatment for self-declared developing countries; and
(E) create new rules and structures that can serve
the United States interests while promoting peace,
prosperity and open markets and societies.
Amend the preamble to read as follows:
Whereas the United States is an original member of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) and a key architect of the institution;
Whereas the WTO is a critical forum for strengthening the multilateral
rules-based trading system and a bedrock of United States trade policy;
Whereas the United States has provided the leadership and political will to
advance the goal of the WTO to raise standards of living, expand the
production of and trade in goods and services, create and enforce rules
that reduce obstacles to international trade that help ensure a level
playing field;
Whereas sustained United States leadership in the WTO provides best paths
to achieve necessary WTO reforms, create new trade rules that enhance
opportunities for all, and address the needs and challenges of the United
States and all other free and open economies in the 21st century;
Whereas the WTO is the preferred forum in which member economies resolve
disputes that arise among them;
Whereas the United States has consistently supported having a functional,
efficient dispute settlement mechanism at the WTO that strictly follows the
Dispute Settlement Understanding as agreed by all WTO members and remains
accountable to WTO members;
Whereas the United States, for decades, has sought to strengthen the WTO
dispute settlement system by advocating for necessary, thoughtful and
prudent reforms;
Whereas the United States has expressed longstanding concerns that the WTO
Appellate Body, through its findings and procedural liberties, is
improperly adding to or diminishing the rights or obligations of WTO
members;
Whereas the United States has consistently urged the WTO to improve
transparency by requiring that all dispute settlement hearings at the WTO
be open to the public, and all submissions by the parties be publicly
available;
Whereas, while several WTO members have joined the United States in
agreeing to open hearings to the public and in making public submissions,
most WTO Members continue to insist on closed hearings and confidential
submissions;
Whereas transparent WTO dispute settlement enhances WTO members'
understanding of the dispute settlement system, particularly for those who
do not participate often in the system;
Whereas open dispute settlement promotes the accountability,
professionalism, and impartiality of WTO adjudicators, to the benefit of
the dispute settlement system as a whole;
Whereas many WTO members have failed to meet basic notification obligations
making it difficult and, in some cases, impossible to monitor or determine
their compliance with WTO obligations, including subsidies disciplines;
Whereas the United States has encouraged, by proposing various incentives
and administrative measures, better compliance with notification
obligations;
Whereas the WTO allows members to self-identify as developing countries in
order to receive special and differential treatment;
Whereas some self-declared developing countries that are now advanced
continue to demand the same special and differential treatment intended for
much smaller, less developed members, creating asymmetries that hinder the
WTO from achieving meaningful outcomes in current and future negotiations;
Whereas for over a decade, most WTO members have refused to engage in
serious efforts to address longstanding United States calls for reform of
dispute settlement and other important aspects of the WTO system; and
Whereas WTO members are engaged in negotiations to reform the WTO and
create new rules, including with respect to fisheries subsidies and e-
commerce: Now, therefore, be it
I. SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND
A. Purpose and Summary
H. Res. 746, a Resolution to Support and Reform the World
Trade Organization (WTO), as amended and ordered reported by
the Committee on Ways and Means on December 17, 2019, expresses
the sense of the House of Representatives that the United
States should reaffirm its commitment as a member of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) and work with other WTO members to
reform the WTO.
B. Background
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental
organization that is concerned with the regulation of
international trade between nations. The WTO was officially
established on January 1, 1995, replacing the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established in 1948 which grew out
of the international political and economic upheaval and
conflicts of the 1930s and World War II.
The WTO is the largest international economic organization
in the world that deals with the regulation of trade in goods,
services and intellectual property between participating
countries by providing a framework for negotiating trade
agreements and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing
participants' adherence to WTO agreements. The United States
has been a long-time champion of and leader at the WTO and is
credited with being one of the organization's most
consequential founding members. The United States has provided
the leadership and political will to advance the goals of the
WTO to raise standards of living, expand the production of and
trade in goods and services, and create and enforce rules that
reduce obstacles to international trade and help ensure a level
playing field.
While Congress has been an ardent supporter of U.S.
participation and leadership in the WTO, Members of Congress
for more than 20 years have expressed serious concerns with the
functioning of the organization. In particular, Congress has
sought to improve the speed and predictability of dispute
settlement and address longstanding concerns with the WTO's
Appellate Body, including its findings and procedural liberties
that are improperly adding to or diminishing the rights or
obligations of WTO members. Congress has also sought to
increase transparency at the WTO, ensure that WTO members
invoke special and differential treatment reserved for
developing countries only in fair and appropriate
circumstances, and update the WTO rules to address the needs of
the United States and other free and open economies in the 21st
century.
In October 2019, a bipartisan Congressional delegation from
the Ways and Means Committee traveled to the WTO to learn
first-hand the current impediments to a functioning World Trade
Organization, including the Appellate Body, as well as
understand the impasse to WTO negotiations and reforms. The
trip confirmed that Congress' long-standing concerns have not
been addressed.
C. Legislative History
Background
H. Res. 746 was introduced by Representatives Kind (D-WI),
Schweikert (R-AZ), Beyer (D-VA), Marchant (R-TX), DelBene (D-
WA), J. Smith (R-MO), Sewell (D-AL), and Estes (R-KS) on
December 6, 2019, and was referred to the Committee on Ways and
Means.
Committee hearings
The Committee held a hearing with U.S. Trade Representative
Robert Lighthizer on June 19, 2019 entitled, ``The 2019 Trade
Policy Agenda: Negotiations with China, Japan, the EU, and UK;
new NAFTA/USMCA; U.S. Participation in the WTO; and other
matters.''
Committee action
The Committee on Ways and Means marked up H. Res. 746 on
December 17, 2019, and ordered the bill, as amended, favorably
reported (with a quorum being present) by voice vote.
II. EXPLANATION OF THE RESOLUTION
H. Res. 746, a Resolution to Support and Reform the World
Trade Organization (WTO), reaffirms the commitment of the
United States to the WTO and calls on the United States to work
with other WTO members to achieve reforms at the WTO that
improve the speed and predictability of dispute settlement,
address longstanding concerns with the WTO's Appellate Body,
increase transparency at the WTO, ensure that WTO members
invoke special and differential treatment reserved for
developing countries only in fair and appropriate
circumstances, and update the WTO rules to address the needs of
the United States and other free and open economies in the 21st
century.
III. VOTES OF THE COMMITTEE
In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the following statement is made
concerning the vote of the Committee on Ways and Means in its
consideration of H. Res. 746, a Resolution to Support and
Reform the World Trade Organization (WTO), on December 17,
2019.
The Chairman's amendment in the nature of a substitute was
adopted by a voice vote (with a quorum being present).
The bill, H. Res. 746, as amended, was ordered favorably
reported by voice vote (with a quorum being present).
IV. BUDGET EFFECTS OF THE BILL
A. Committee Estimate of Budgetary Effects
Clause 3(d) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives is inapplicable to the resolution.
B. Statement Regarding New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures Budget
Authority
Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives is inapplicable.
C. Cost Estimate Prepared by the Congressional Budget Office
In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the
Congressional Budget Office did not provide a cost estimate for
the resolution.
V. OTHER MATTERS TO BE DISCUSSED UNDER THE RULES OF THE HOUSE
A. Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations
With respect to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause
2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives,
the Committee made findings and recommendations that are
reflected in this report.
B. Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives
With respect to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the
resolution contains no measure that authorizes funding, so no
statement of general performance goals and objectives for which
any measure authorizes funding is required.
C. Information Relating to Unfunded Mandates
This information is provided in accordance with section 423
of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. No. 104-
4).
The Committee has determined that the resolution does not
contain Federal mandates on the private sector. The Committee
has determined that the resolution does not impose a Federal
intergovernmental mandate on State, local, or tribal
governments.
D. Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff
Benefits
With respect to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee has carefully reviewed
the provisions of the resolution, and states that the
provisions of the resolution do not contain any congressional
earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits
within the meaning of the rule.
E. Duplication of Federal Programs
In compliance with clause 3(c)(5) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee states that no
provision of the resolution establishes or reauthorizes: (1) a
program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of
another Federal program; (2) a program included in any report
to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139; or
(3) a program related to a program identified in the most
recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, published
pursuant section 6104 of title 31, United States Code.
VI. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE RESOLUTION, AS REPORTED
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that H.
Res. 746 does not make any changes to existing law.
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