[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 64 (Monday, April 5, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 16333-16335]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-8433]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 64 / Monday, April 5, 1999 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 16333]]
Executive Order 13116 of March 31, 1999
Identification of Trade Expansion Priorities and
Discriminatory Procurement Practices
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, including title III of the Act of March 3,
1993, as amended (41 U.S.C. 10d), sections 141 and 301-
310 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the Act) (19
U.S.C. 2171, 2411-2420), title III of the Trade
Agreements Act of 1979, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2511-
2518), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
and to ensure that the trade policies of the United
States advance, to the greatest extent possible, the
export of the products and services of the United
States and that trade policy resources are used
efficiently, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Part I: Identification of Trade Expansion Priorities
Section 1. Identification and Annual Report. (a) Within
30 days of the submission of the National Trade
Estimate Report required by section 181(b) of the Act
(19 U.S.C. 2241(b)) for 1999, 2000, and 2001, the
United States Trade Representative (Trade
Representative) shall review United States trade
expansion priorities and identify priority foreign
country practices, the elimination of which is likely
to have the most significant potential to increase
United States exports, either directly or through the
establishment of a beneficial precedent. 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, and shall publish in the
Federal Register, a report on the priority foreign
country practices identified.
(b) In identifying priority foreign country
practices under paragraph (a) of this section, the
Trade Representative shall take into account all
relevant factors, including:
(1) the major barriers and trade distorting practices described in the National Trade Estimate Report;
(2) the trade agreements to which a foreign country is a party and its compliance with those agreements;
(3) the medium-term and long-term implications of foreign government procurement plans; and
(4) the international competitive position and export potential of United States products and services.
(c) The Trade Representative may include in the
report, if appropriate, a description of the foreign
country practices that may in the future warrant
identification as priority foreign country practices.
The Trade Representative also may include a statement
about other foreign country practices that were not
identified because they are already being addressed by
provisions of United States trade law, existing
bilateral trade agreements, or in trade negotiations
with other countries and progress is being made toward
their elimination.
Sec. 2. Resolution. Upon submission of the report
required by paragraph (a) of section 1 of this part,
the Trade Representative shall, with respect to any
priority foreign country practice identified therein,
engage the country concerned for the purpose of seeking
a satisfactory resolution, for example, by obtaining
compliance with a trade agreement or the elimination of
the practice as quickly as possible, or, if this is not
feasible, by providing for compensatory trade benefits.
[[Page 16334]]
Sec. 3. Initiation of Investigations. Within 90 days of
the submission of the report required by paragraph (a)
of section 1 of this part, the Trade Representative
shall initiate under section 302(b)(1) of the Act (19
U.S.C. 2412(b)(1)) investigations with respect to all
of the priority foreign country practices identified,
unless during the 90-day period the Trade
Representative determines that a satisfactory
resolution of the matter to be investigated has been
achieved.
Part II: Identification of Discriminatory Government
Procurement Practices
Section 1. Identification and Annual Report. (a) Within
30 days of the submission of the National Trade
Estimate Report for 1999, 2000, and 2001, the Trade
Representative shall submit to the Committees on
Finance and on Governmental Affairs of the Senate and
the Committees on Ways and Means and Government Reform
and Oversight of the House of Representatives, and
shall publish in the Federal Register, a report on the
extent to which foreign countries discriminate against
U.S. products or services in making government
procurements.
(b) In the report, the Trade Representative shall
identify countries that:
(1) are not in compliance with their obligations under the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government
Procurement (the GPA), Chapter 10 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), or other agreements
relating to government procurement (procurement agreements) to which that country and the United States
are parties; or
(2) maintain, in government procurement, a significant and persistent pattern or practice of discrimination
against U.S. products or services that results in identifiable harm to U.S. businesses and whose products
or services are acquired in significant amounts by the United States Government.
Sec. 2. Considerations in Making Identifications. In
making the identifications required by section 1 of
this part, the Trade Representative shall: (a) consider
the requirements of the GPA, NAFTA, or other
procurement agreements, government procurement
practices, and the effects of such practices on U.S.
businesses as a basis for evaluating whether the
procurement practices of foreign governments do not
provide fair market opportunities for U.S. products or
services;
(b) take into account, among other factors, whether
and to what extent countries that are parties to the
GPA, NAFTA, or other procurement agreements, and other
countries described in section 1 of this part:
(1) use sole-sourcing or otherwise noncompetitive procedures for procurement that could have been conducted
using competitive procedures;
(2) conduct what normally would have been one procurement as two or more procurements, to decrease the
anticipated contract values below the value threshold of the GPA, NAFTA, or other procurement agreements,
or to make the procurement less attractive to U.S. businesses;
(3) announce procurement opportunities with inadequate time intervals for U.S. businesses to submit bids; and
(4) use specifications in such a way as to limit the ability of U.S. suppliers to participate in procurements;
and
(c) consider information included in the National
Trade Estimate Report, and any other additional
criteria deemed appropriate, including, to the extent
such information is available, the failure to apply
transparent and competitive procedures or maintain and
enforce effective prohibitions on bribery and other
corrupt practices in connection with government
procurement.
Sec. 3. Impact of Noncompliance and Denial of
Comparable Treatment. The Trade Representative shall
take into account, in identifying countries in the
annual report and in any action required by this part,
the relative impact of any noncompliance with the GPA,
NAFTA, or other procurement agreements, or of other
discrimination on U.S. commerce, and the extent
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to which such noncompliance or discrimination has
impeded the ability of U.S. suppliers to participate in
procurements on terms comparable to those available to
suppliers of the country in question when seeking to
sell goods or services to the United States Government.
Sec. 4. Resolution. Upon submission of the report
required by section 1 of this part, the Trade
Representative shall engage any country identified
therein for the purpose of seeking a satisfactory
resolution, for example, by obtaining compliance with
the GPA, NAFTA, or other procurement agreements or the
elimination of the discriminatory procurement practices
as quickly as possible, or, if this is not feasible, by
providing for compensatory trade benefits.
Sec. 5. Initiation of Investigations. (a) Within 90
days of the submission of the report required by
section 1 of this part, the Trade Representative shall
initiate under section 302(b)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C.
2412(b)(1)) investigations with respect to any practice
that:
(1) was the basis for the identification of a country under section 1; and
(2) is not at that time the subject of any other investigation or action under title III, chapter 1, of the
Act,
unless during the 90-day period the Trade
Representative determines that a satisfactory
resolution of the matter to be investigated has been
achieved.
(b) For investigations initiated under paragraph
(a) of this section (other than an investigation
involving the GPA or NAFTA), the Trade Representative
shall apply the time limits and procedures in section
304(a)(3) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 2414(a)(3)). The time
limits in subsection 304(a)(3)(B) of the Act (19 U.S.C.
2414(a)(3)(B)) shall apply if the Trade Representative
determines that:
(1) complex or complicated issues are involved in the investigation that require additional time;
(2) the foreign country involved in the investigation is making substantial progress in drafting or
implementing legislative or administrative measures that will end the discriminatory procurement practice;
or
(3) such foreign country is undertaking enforcement measures to end the discriminatory procurement practice.
Part III: Direction
Section 1. Presidential Direction. The authorities
delegated pursuant to this order shall be exercised
subject to any subsequent direction by the President in
a particular matter.
Sec. 2. Consultations and Advice. In developing the
annual reports required by part I and part II of this
order, the Trade Representative shall consult with
executive agencies and seek information and advice from
U.S. businesses in the United States and in the
countries involved in the practices under
consideration.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 31, 1999.
[FR Doc. 99-8433
Filed 4-2-99; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P