[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1947 Introduced in House (IH)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1947
To establish the Trade Agreements Enforcement Trust Fund to take
actions to enforce free trade agreements to which the United States is
a party, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 22, 2015
Mr. Blumenauer (for himself, Mr. Kind, Mr. Neal, Mr. Thompson of
California, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms. Linda T. Saanchez of
California, and Mr. McDermott) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the Trade Agreements Enforcement Trust Fund to take
actions to enforce free trade agreements to which the United States is
a party, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Supplemental Trade Review,
Oversight, Noncompliance and General Enforcement Resources Act of
2015'' or ``STRONGER Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. TRADE AGREEMENTS ENFORCEMENT TRUST FUND.
(a) Establishment; Source of Funds.--There is established in the
Treasury of the United States a trust fund, to be known as the Trade
Agreements Enforcement Trust Fund (hereinafter in this section referred
to as the ``Trust Fund''), consisting of such amounts as are
transferred to the Trust Fund under subsection (b), any interest earned
on investment of amounts in the Trust Fund, and any proceeds from the
sale or redemption of any obligations held in the Trust Fund under
subsection (c).
(b) Transfer of Countervailing and Antidumping Duties to Trust
Fund.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall transfer to the Trust
Fund for each fiscal year that begins on or after the date of
the enactment of this Act an amount equal to $15,000,000 of the
countervailing duties and antidumping duties received in the
Treasury for such fiscal year.
(2) Limitation.--The total amount of funds in the Trust
Fund may not exceed $30,000,000.
(c) Investment of Amounts; Interest and Proceeds.--
(1) Investment of amounts.--The Secretary shall be
responsible for investing such portion of the Trust Fund as is
not, in the judgment of the Secretary, required to meet current
withdrawals. Such investments shall only be made in interest-
bearing obligations of the United States or in obligations
guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the United
States.
(2) Interest and proceeds.--The interest on, and the
proceeds from the sale or redemption of, any obligations held
in Trust Fund shall be credited to and form a part of the Trust
Fund.
(d) Frequency of Transfers; Adjustments.--
(1) Frequency of transfers.--The Secretary shall transfer
amounts required to be transferred to the Trust Fund under
subsection (b) at least quarterly from the general fund of the
Treasury to the Trust Fund on the basis of estimates made by
the Secretary.
(2) Adjustments.--The Secretary shall make proper
adjustment in the amounts subsequently transferred to the Trust
Fund to the extent prior estimates were in excess of or less
than the amounts required to be transferred to the Trust Fund.
SEC. 3. AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS FROM TRUST FUND.
(a) In General.--The President is authorized to make available such
sums as are available in the Trust Fund, including any amounts not
obligated in previous fiscal years, to--
(1) the United States Trade Representative to take the
actions described in subsection (b)(1); and
(2) the United States Trade Representative, the Secretary
of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development, the Secretary of Labor, and the
heads of other departments and agencies with relevant
expertise, as appropriate, to take the actions described in
subsection (b)(2).
(b) Actions.--
(1) Relating to enforcement.--The actions described in this
paragraph are the following:
(A) To seek to enforce and resolve any
inconsistencies with the provisions, commitments, and
obligations of any party made pursuant to any free
trade agreement with the United States.
(B) To monitor the implementation of commitments
and obligations of any party made pursuant to any free
trade agreement with the United States for purposes of
systematically assessing, identifying, investigating,
or initiating steps to address inconsistencies with
such commitments and obligations.
(C) To investigate and respond to petitions
pursuant to section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19
U.S.C. 2411).
(D) To seek to enforce and resolve inconsistencies
with the provisions, commitments, and obligations of
World Trade Organization member countries under the WTO
Agreement (as defined in section 2(9) of the Uruguay
Round Agreements Act) and the agreements annexed to
that Agreement (as specified in section 101(d) of the
Uruguay Round Agreements Act).
(2) Relating to implementation assistance and local
capacity building.--The actions described in this paragraph are
the following:
(A) To ensure capacity-building efforts undertaken
by the United States pursuant to any free trade
agreement prioritize and give special attention to the
timely, consistent, and robust implementation of any
labor and environmental commitments and obligations of
any party to that free trade agreement.
(B) To ensure capacity-building efforts undertaken
by the United States pursuant to any free trade
agreement are self-sustaining and promote local
ownership.
(C) To ensure capacity-building efforts undertaken
by the United States pursuant to any free trade
agreement include performance indicators against which
the progress and obstacles for implementation of
environmental and labor commitments can be identified
and assessed within a meaningful timeframe.
(D) To monitor and evaluate United States capacity-
building efforts described in subparagraphs (A), (B),
and (C) in a manner consistent with section 4.
(c) Limitation.--Amounts made available in the Trust Fund may not
be used to negotiate any new free trade agreements on or after the date
of the enactment of this Act.
(d) Report.--Not later than 18 months following the entry into
force of any new free trade agreement, the United States Trade
Representative, together with the other parties taking actions under
section 3(b)(2) pursuant to that free trade agreement shall issue a
report to Congress detailing those actions.
SEC. 4. COORDINATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
(a) Interagency Committee.--
(1) In general.--The President shall establish a permanent
interagency committee to ensure actions taken under section
3(b)(2) are effectively prioritized, targeted, coordinated, and
implemented.
(2) Members.--The committee shall consist of the following:
(A) The Deputy United States Trade Representative
of the Office of the United States Trade
Representative, who shall serve as the chair of the
committee.
(B) The Under Secretary for Economic Growth,
Energy, and the Environment of the Department of State.
(C) The Assistant Administrator for Economic
Growth, Education, and Environment of the United States
Agency for International Development.
(D) The Deputy Undersecretary for International
Affairs of the Department of Labor.
(E) Such senior representatives from other
departments and agencies with relevant expertise, as
appropriate, to be appointed by the chair of the
committee.
(3) Ad hoc members.--The United States ambassador to any
country receiving United States assistance by reason of actions
taken under section 3(b)(2) shall serve as an ad hoc member of
the committee for the period of time during which the planning,
budgeting, and implementation of such assistance is carried
out.
(4) Consultation.--The head of any department or agency
that is taking actions under section 3(b)(2) shall consult with
the committee during the drafting of any action plan, program,
or effort led by the United States for purposes of taking such
actions.
(b) Accountability.--The United States shall promote aid
effectiveness and accountability through transparency, monitoring,
evaluation, and learning, and fostering local ownership and
implementation of U.S. assistance carried out pursuant to section
3(b)(2) in the following manner:
(1) Increase transparency.--The interagency committee
established under section 4(a) shall publish timely,
comprehensive, and detailed information regarding the
implementation assistance and local capacity building described
in section 3(b)(2) on a quarterly basis in IATI XML format,
consistent with the United States commitment to full compliance
with the International Aid Transparency Initiative.
(2) Strengthen evaluation.--The interagency committee
established under section 4(a) shall conduct evaluations that
are independent, methodologically rigorous, made public in
their entirety, and transmitted to the International Aid
Transparency Initiative Registry as appropriate.
(3) Promote learning.--The interagency committee
established under section 4(a) shall develop and implement
procedures for ensuring that data and evaluation results inform
decisionmaking and lead to the revision and promotion of best
practices among relevant executive branch agencies.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Antidumping duty.--The term ``antidumping duty'' means
an antidumping duty imposed under section 731 of the Tariff Act
of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1673).
(2) Countervailing duty.--The term ``countervailing duty''
means a countervailing duty imposed under section 701 of the
Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1671).
(3) Secretary.--Except as otherwise provided, the term
``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Treasury.
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