    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 13 (Monday, April 5, 1999)]
    [Pages 561-563]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Executive Order 13116--Identification of Trade Expansion Priorities and
    Discriminatory Procurement Practices

    March 31, 1999

        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 proving for compensatory trade
    benefits.
        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

    [[Page 562]]

    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 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:

    [[Page 563]]

        (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.
                                                William J. Clinton
    The White House,
    March 31, 1999.

    [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., April 2,
    1999]

    Note: This Executive order was released by the Office of the Press
    Secretary on April 1, and it was published in the Federal Register on
    April 5.