19 U.S.C. § 4204 — Notice, consultations, and reports

(a) Notice, consultations, and reports before negotiation

(1) Notice. For an agreement subject to 19 U.S.C. § 4202(b), the President must:

(A) At least 90 calendar days before starting negotiations with a country, give Congress written notice of the President’s intent to negotiate. The notice must state the planned starting date, the specific United States goals for the negotiations, and whether the President seeks a new agreement or changes to an existing one.

(B) Before and after submitting the notice, consult about the negotiations with the House Committee on Ways and Means, the Senate Committee on Finance, any other House or Senate committees the President considers appropriate, and the House and Senate Advisory Groups on Negotiations convened under 19 U.S.C. § 4203(c).

(C) If a majority of either advisory group asks, meet with that group before starting negotiations or at any other time about them.

(D) After consulting the Ways and Means and Finance Committees, and at least 30 calendar days before starting negotiations, publish on a publicly available Office of the United States Trade Representative website a detailed, complete summary of the specific negotiating goals and an explanation of how a successfully concluded agreement would advance those goals and benefit the United States. The President must regularly update it.

(2) Negotiations regarding agriculture

(A) Assessment and consultations. Before starting or continuing negotiations with a country whose subject directly relates to 19 U.S.C. § 4201(b)(3)(B), the President must:

(i) assess whether United States agricultural tariffs bound under the Uruguay Round Agreements^* are lower than that country’s bound tariffs;

(ii) consider whether tariff levels bound and applied worldwide to imports from the United States are higher than United States tariffs, and whether the negotiations offer a chance to address that difference; and

(iii) consult the House Ways and Means and Agriculture Committees and the Senate Finance and Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committees about the assessment, whether further United States tariff reductions are appropriate based on it, and how all applicable negotiating goals will be met.

(B) Special consultations on import-sensitive products.

(i) Before agricultural negotiations, and for agreements described in 19 U.S.C. § 4206(a)(2) and (3), as soon as practicable after June 29, 2015, the Trade Representative must:

(I) identify agricultural products subject to tariff-rate quotas on June 29, 2015, and agricultural products subject to United States tariff reductions from the Uruguay Round Agreements for which the duty rate was reduced on January 1, 1995, to a rate at least 97.5 percent of the rate that applied on December 31, 1994;

(II) consult the House Ways and Means and Agriculture Committees and the Senate Finance and Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committees about:

(aa) whether further tariff reductions on those products are appropriate, considering the effect on the United States industry that makes the product;

(bb) whether those products face unjustified sanitary or phytosanitary restrictions, including restrictions not based on scientific principles in violation of the Uruguay Round Agreements; and

(cc) whether negotiating countries maintain export subsidies or other programs, policies, or practices that distort world trade in those products, and how those programs, policies, and practices affect United States producers;

(III) ask the International Trade Commission to assess the probable economic effects of any such tariff reduction on the affected United States industry and the United States economy as a whole; and

(IV) after completing subclauses (I), (II), and (III), notify the same four committees which identified products the Trade Representative intends to seek tariff liberalization for and why.

(ii) If, after those negotiations begin, (I) the Trade Representative identifies another product described in clause (i)(I) for tariff reductions that was not included in the notice under clause (i)(IV), or (II) a negotiating party asks for tariff reductions on another such product, the Trade Representative must notify the committees named in clause (i)(IV), as soon as practicable, of the products and the reasons for seeking the reductions.

(3) Negotiations regarding the fishing industry. Before starting or continuing negotiations with a country that directly concern fish or shellfish trade, the President must consult the House Ways and Means and Natural Resources Committees and the Senate Finance and Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committees. The President must keep the committees informed about the negotiations continuously and promptly.

(4) Negotiations regarding textiles. Before starting or continuing negotiations with a country whose subject directly concerns textile and apparel products, the President must:

(A) assess whether United States textile and apparel tariffs bound under the Uruguay Round Agreements are lower than that country’s bound tariffs and whether the negotiations offer a chance to address that difference; and

(B) consult the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee about the assessment, whether further United States tariff reductions are appropriate based on it, and how all applicable negotiating goals will be met.

(5) Existing international trade and investment obligations. When deciding whether to negotiate with a particular country, the President must consider how much that country has carried out, or sped up carrying out, its international trade and investment commitments to the United States, including commitments under the WTO Agreement^*.

(b) Consultation with Congress before entering an agreement

(1) Consultation. Before entering a trade agreement under 19 U.S.C. § 4202(b), the President must consult with:

(A) the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee;

(B) every other House and Senate committee, and every joint congressional committee, with jurisdiction over legislation about subjects the agreement would affect; and

(C) the House and Senate Advisory Groups on Negotiations convened under 19 U.S.C. § 4203(c).

(2) Scope. The consultation must cover:

(A) the agreement’s nature;

(B) how and how much the agreement will achieve this chapter’s applicable purposes, policies, priorities, and goals; and

(C) implementation under 19 U.S.C. § 4205, including the agreement’s general effect on existing laws.

(3) Report regarding United States trade-remedy laws

(A) Changes in certain trade laws. At least 180 calendar days before entering a trade agreement under 19 U.S.C. § 4202(b), the President must report to the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee:

(i) the range of proposals made in the negotiations that may be in the final agreement and could require changes to title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 or chapter 1 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974; and

(ii) how those proposals relate to the goals in 19 U.S.C. § 4201(b)(17).

(B) Resolutions

(i) After the report is sent, the procedures in clauses (iii) through (vii) apply to a resolution introduced in either House about that report only if no other resolution about the report has already been reported in that House by the Ways and Means or Finance Committee under those procedures, and no procedural-disapproval resolution under 19 U.S.C. § 4205(b) about an agreement from the related negotiations has already been reported in that House by the applicable committee.

(ii) Here, “resolution” means only a resolution of either House whose text after the resolving clause says: “That the ____ finds that the proposed changes to United States trade remedy laws contained in the report of the President transmitted to Congress on ____ under section 105(b)(3) of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 with respect to ____, are inconsistent with the negotiating objectives described in section 102(b)(17) of that Act.” The first blank must name the House adopting the resolution, the second must contain the report’s date, and the third must name the country or countries involved.

(iii) A House resolution may be introduced by any House Member, must go to the Ways and Means Committee and also the Rules Committee, and neither committee may amend it.

(iv) A Senate resolution may be introduced by any Senator, must go to the Finance Committee, and may not be amended.

(v) The House may not consider a resolution unless both the Ways and Means Committee and the Rules Committee report it.

(vi) The Senate may not consider a resolution unless the Finance Committee reports it.

(vii) The rules in subsections (d) and (e) of section 152 of the Trade Act of 1974, concerning floor consideration of certain House and Senate resolutions, apply to these resolutions.

(4) Advisory committee reports. The report required by section 135(e)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 about a trade agreement entered under 19 U.S.C. § 4202(a) or (b) must be given to the President, Congress, and the Trade Representative no later than 30 days after the President notifies Congress under 19 U.S.C. § 4202(a)(2) or 19 U.S.C. § 4205(a)(1)(A) of the intent to enter the agreement.

(c) International Trade Commission assessment

(1) Submission of information. No later than 90 calendar days before entering a trade agreement under 19 U.S.C. § 4202(b), the President must give the International Trade Commission (called the “Commission” in this subsection) the agreement’s details as they then exist and ask it to prepare and submit the assessment described in paragraph (2). From the request until the Commission submits the assessment, the President must keep the Commission current on the agreement’s details.

(2) Assessment. No later than 105 calendar days after the President enters the agreement, the Commission must send the President and Congress a report assessing its likely effect on the United States economy as a whole and on particular industries. The report must include effects on gross domestic product; exports and imports; total employment and job opportunities; production, employment, and competitive position of industries likely to be significantly affected; and United States consumers’ interests.

(3) Review of economic research. In preparing the assessment, the Commission must review available economic assessments of the agreement, including research about any substantially equivalent proposed agreement. The assessment must describe the analyses and conclusions in that research and discuss where the analyses and conclusions agree or differ, including the Commission’s own analyses and conclusions about the agreement.

(4) Public availability. The President must make each assessment under paragraph (2) available to the public.

(d) Reports sent to committees with the agreement

(1) Environmental reviews and reports. The President must:

(A) conduct environmental reviews of future trade and investment agreements consistent with Executive Order No. 13141 (64 Fed. Reg. 63169), dated November 16, 1999, and its relevant guidelines; and

(B) when sending Congress the final legal text under 19 U.S.C. § 4205(a)(1)(E), send the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee a report on those reviews and on the content and operation of consultation mechanisms established under 19 U.S.C. § 4201(c).

(2) Employment-impact reviews and reports. The President must:

(A) review the effects of future trade agreements on United States employment, including labor markets, using procedures and criteria modeled on Executive Order No. 13141 as appropriate; and

(B) when sending Congress the final legal text under 19 U.S.C. § 4205(a)(1)(E), send the same two committees a report on those reviews.

(3) Labor-rights report. On a schedule set under 19 U.S.C. § 4203(c)(3)(B)(v), the President must send the two committees:

(A) a meaningful report on the labor rights of the country or countries with which the President is negotiating; and

(B) a description of provisions that would require changes to United States labor laws^* or labor practices.

(4) Public availability. The President must make all reports required by this subsection available to the public.

(e) Implementation and enforcement plan

(1) In general. When sending Congress the final legal text under 19 U.S.C. § 4205(a)(1)(E), the President must also send Congress a plan for implementing and enforcing the agreement.

(2) Required elements. The plan must include:

(A) Border personnel requirements: a description of extra personnel needed at border entry points, including a list of extra customs and agricultural inspectors.

(B) Agency staffing requirements: a description of extra personnel needed by Federal agencies that monitor and implement the agreement. This includes the Office of the United States Trade Representative; the Departments of Commerce, Agriculture, Homeland Security, and the Treasury; and any other agencies needed. For the Agriculture Department, it includes personnel needed to implement sanitary and phytosanitary measures to obtain market access for United States exports.

(C) Customs infrastructure requirements: a description of extra equipment and facilities needed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

(D) Effect on State and local governments: a description of the agreement’s effect on State and local governments resulting from increased trade.

(E) Cost analysis: an analysis of the costs of each item in subparagraphs (A) through (D).

(3) Budget submission. The President must request, in the first budget submitted to Congress under 31 U.S.C. § 1105(a) after the plan is submitted, the resources needed to support the plan.

(4) Public availability. The President must make the plan available to the public.

(f) Other reports

(1) Report on penalties. No later than one year after the United States imposes a penalty or remedy allowed by a covered trade agreement, the President must report to the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee on how effective the penalty or remedy under United States law was in enforcing United States rights under the agreement. The report must address whether it changed the targeted party’s behavior and whether it harmed parties or interests that were not parties to the dispute.

(2) Report on the effect of trade-promotion authority. No later than one year after June 29, 2015, and no later than every five years after that, the United States International Trade Commission must report to those two committees on the United States economic effect of all trade agreements for which Congress has enacted an implementing bill under trade-authority procedures since January 1, 1984.

(3) Enforcement consultations and reports

(A) After accepting a petition for review or taking enforcement action concerning an obligation under a trade agreement, including a labor or environmental obligation, the Trade Representative must consult the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee. The consultation must describe the matter, including the basis for the action and how relevant legal obligations apply.

(B) As part of the report required by section 163 of the Trade Act of 1974, the President must report annually to Congress on enforcement actions under trade agreements to which the United States is a party and on public reports issued by Federal agencies about trade-agreement enforcement matters.

(g) Additional coordination with Members. A House Member may submit to the House Ways and Means Committee that Member’s views on any matter relevant to a proposed trade agreement. A Senator may submit those views to the Senate Finance Committee. The relevant committee must receive the views for consideration.