[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

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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.