19 U.S.C. § 2420 — Trade enforcement priorities
submitted 38 years ago by Pub. L. 93-618 to r/title-19-CUSTOMS-DUTIES · 1,411 words · no verdicts yet
This section requires annual and semiannual consultations and reports about foreign trade-enforcement priorities, requires action on identified priorities, and requires notification about formal trade disputes. It defines WTO terms used here.
(a)(1) By May 31 of each calendar year beginning after February 24, 2016, the Trade Representative* must consult with the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee about prioritizing foreign-government acts, policies, or practices that raise concerns under WTO or other United States trade agreements or create or maintain barriers to United States goods, services, or investment. (2) The Representative must focus on practices whose removal is most likely to increase United States economic growth and consider (A) the economic importance of possible inconsistency between a foreign government’s trade-agreement obligation and its practices; (B) effects on United States jobs and productive capacity; (C) major barriers and distortions in the latest National Trade Estimate; (D) those in other relevant Federal-agency or congressional-commission reports from the preceding 12 months; (E) compliance with trade agreements; (F) procurement plans and policies; and (G) United States products’ and services’ international competitiveness and export potential. (3)(A) By July 31 each such year, the Representative must report to those committees on priorities identified through the consultations and criteria. (B) In later annual reports, the Representative must describe actions taken during the preceding year, and when relevant earlier years, to address identified priorities.
(b)(1) At the time of the subsection (a)(3) report and by January 31 of each following year, the Representative must consult with those committees about identifying, prioritizing, investigating, and resolving foreign-government practices of concern under trade agreements or that create or maintain barriers. (2) These consultations must address engagement with trading partners, response strategies, available and deployed resources, the merits of possible dispute settlement, and any other aspect. (3) For active investigations, they must address response strategies, relevant timelines, possible dispute settlement, barriers to advancing the investigation, and other investigation matters. (4) For ongoing enforcement actions by or against the United States, they must address timelines, merits, possible implementation, effects on United States laws or regulations, effects on stakeholders, domestic competitors, and exporters, and other issues. (5) They must address enforcement resources, constraints on monitoring and enforcement, ways to address constraints, and using other Federal agencies’ resources.
(c) For a priority identified under (a), by the first semiannual consultation afterward the Representative must take suitable action, including (1) engaging the foreign government; (2) starting a section 2412(b)(1) investigation; (3) starting negotiations for a bilateral resolving agreement; or (4) starting dispute settlement under the WTO Agreements or another United States trade agreement.
(d)(1) Before starting a formal trade dispute by or against the United States under a WTO or other trade-agreement obligation, the Representative must notify and consult those committees. If a dispute against the United States makes advance notice impossible, notice and consultation must occur as soon as practicable after it starts. (2) The Representative must also notify and consult them before the announced or expected circulation of a WTO panel or Appellate Body report, or another trade-agreement panel report, about such a dispute.
(e) “WTO” means the World Trade Organization. “WTO Agreement” has the meaning in section 3501(9) of this title. “WTO Agreements” means that Agreement and the agreements annexed to it.
Not later than May 31 of each calendar year that begins after February 24, 2016, the United States Trade Representative* (in this section referred to as the “Trade Representative”) shall consult with the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives with respect to the prioritization of acts, policies, or practices of foreign governments that raise concerns with respect to obligations under the WTO Agreements or any other trade agreement to which the United States is a party, or otherwise create or maintain barriers to United States goods, services, or investment.
In identifying acts, policies, or practices of foreign governments as trade enforcement priorities under this subsection, the Trade Representative shall focus on those acts, policies, and practices the elimination of which is likely to have the most significant potential to increase United States economic growth, and take into account all relevant factors, including—
the economic significance of any potential inconsistency between an obligation assumed by a foreign government pursuant to a trade agreement to which both the foreign government and the United States are parties and the acts, policies, or practices of that government;
the impact of the acts, policies, or practices of a foreign government on maintaining and creating United States jobs and productive capacity;
the major barriers and trade distorting practices described in the most recent National Trade Estimate required under section 2241(b) of this title;
the major barriers and trade distorting practices described in other relevant reports addressing international trade and investment barriers prepared by a Federal agency or congressional commission during the 12 months preceding the date of the most recent report under paragraph (3);
a foreign government’s compliance with its obligations under any trade agreements to which both the foreign government and the United States are parties;
the implications of a foreign government’s procurement plans and policies; and
the international competitive position and export potential of United States products and services.
Not later than July 31 of each calendar year that begins after February 24, 2016, the Trade Representative shall report to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives on acts, policies, or practices of foreign governments identified as trade enforcement priorities based on the consultations under paragraph (1) and the criteria set forth in paragraph (2).
The Trade Representative shall include, when reporting under subparagraph (A) in any calendar year after the calendar year that begins after February 24, 2016, a description of actions taken to address any acts, policies, or practices of foreign governments identified as trade enforcement priorities under this subsection in the calendar year preceding that report and, as relevant, any calendar year before that calendar year.
At the same time as the reporting under subsection (a)(3), and not later than January 31 of each following year, the Trade Representative shall consult with the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives with respect to the identification, prioritization, investigation, and resolution of acts, policies, or practices of foreign governments of concern with respect to obligations under the WTO Agreements or any other trade agreement to which the United States is a party, or that otherwise create or maintain trade barriers.
The semiannual enforcement consultations required by paragraph (1) shall address acts, policies, or practices of foreign governments that raise concerns with respect to obligations under the WTO Agreements or any other trade agreement to which the United States is a party, or otherwise create or maintain trade barriers, including—
engagement with relevant trading partners;
strategies for addressing such concerns;
availability and deployment of resources to be used in the investigation or resolution of such concerns;
the merits of any potential dispute resolution proceeding under the WTO Agreements or any other trade agreement to which the United States is a party relating to such concerns; and
any other aspects of such concerns.
The semiannual enforcement consultations required by paragraph (1) shall address acts, policies, or practices that the Trade Representative is actively investigating with respect to obligations under the WTO Agreements or any other trade agreement to which the United States is a party, including—
strategies for addressing concerns raised by such acts, policies, or practices;
any relevant timeline with respect to investigation of such acts, policies, or practices;
the merits of any potential dispute resolution proceeding under the WTO Agreements or any other trade agreement to which the United States is a party with respect to such acts, policies, or practices;
barriers to the advancement of the investigation of such acts, policies, or practices; and
any other matters relating to the investigation of such acts, policies, or practices.
The semiannual enforcement consultations required by paragraph (1) shall address all ongoing enforcement actions taken by or against the United States with respect to obligations under the WTO Agreements or any other trade agreement to which the United States is a party, including—
any relevant timeline with respect to such actions;
the merits of such actions;
any prospective implementation actions;
potential implications for any law or regulation of the United States;
potential implications for United States stakeholders, domestic competitors, and exporters; and
other issues relating to such actions.
The semiannual enforcement consultations required by paragraph (1) shall address the availability and deployment of enforcement resources, resource constraints on monitoring and enforcement activities, and strategies to address those constraints, including the use of available resources of other Federal agencies to enhance monitoring and enforcement capabilities.
In the case of any acts, policies, or practices of a foreign government identified as a trade enforcement priority under subsection (a), the Trade Representative shall, not later than the date of the first semiannual enforcement consultations held under subsection (b) after the identification of the priority, take appropriate action to address that priority, including—
engagement with the foreign government to resolve concerns raised by such acts, policies, or practices;
initiation of an investigation under section 2412(b)(1) of this title with respect to such acts, policies, or practices;
initiation of negotiations for a bilateral agreement that provides for resolution of concerns raised by such acts, policies, or practices; or
initiation of dispute settlement proceedings under the WTO Agreements or any other trade agreement to which the United States is a party with respect to such acts, policies, or practices.
The Trade Representative shall notify and consult with the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives in advance of the initiation of any formal trade dispute by or against the United States taken in regard to an obligation under the WTO Agreements or any other trade agreement to which the United States is a party. With respect to a formal trade dispute against the United States, if advance notification and consultation are not possible, the Trade Representative shall notify and consult at the earliest practicable opportunity after initiation of the dispute.
The Trade Representative shall notify and consult with the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives in advance of the announced or anticipated circulation of any report of a dispute settlement panel or the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization or of a dispute settlement panel under any other trade agreement to which the United States is a party with respect to a formal trade dispute by or against the United States.
In this section:
The term “WTO” means the World Trade Organization.
The term “WTO Agreement” has the meaning given that term in section 3501(9) of this title.
The term “WTO Agreements” means the WTO Agreement and agreements annexed to that Agreement.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 93–618, title III, § 310, as added Pub. L. 100–418, title I, § 1302(a), Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1176; amended Pub. L. 103–465, title III, § 314(f), Dec. 8, 1994, 108 Stat. 4941; Pub. L. 114–125, title VI, § 601(a), Feb. 24, 2016, 130 Stat. 180.)
- 1988Enacted · Pub. L. 93-618 · 102 Stat. 1176
- 1994Amended · Pub. L. 103-465 · 108 Stat. 4941
- 2016Amended · Pub. L. 114-125 · 130 Stat. 180
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 93-618 on 1988-08-23.
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