§3105 Actions to be taken if no agreement obtained

Summary

If the President cannot reach an agreement with a priority foreign country before the negotiating period ends, the President must use the tools listed below that are most likely to meet the negotiation goals. The President should try tools that affect telecom trade first, unless actions in other parts of the economy would work better. Authorized tools include ending or pausing parts of trade agreements (including under the Trade Act of 1974, section 1821, or section 1351), using section 301 trade measures, banning federal purchases of that country’s telecom products, raising domestic purchasing preferences for federal buys under chapter 83 of title 41, stopping waivers from the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, ordering agencies to deny federal funds or credits for buying those telecom products, and suspending benefits under title V of the Trade Act of 1974. If a trade agreement duty is ended or suspended, the President will set the duty rate that applies to goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption after that change takes effect. The negotiating period is 18 months starting August 23, 1988 for countries named in the original investigation, and 1 year from the date of identification for countries named later. The President may extend the negotiating period up to two more 1-year periods. Within 15 days after an extension, the President must send Congress a report saying substantial progress is being made and explaining why more time is needed. The President may change or end any action later if circumstances change after considering the factors in section 3103(b). The President must promptly tell the appropriate Congressional committees about any actions taken, changed, or ended.