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Title 19 — Customs DutiesRelease 119-73not60

§2486 Trade Relations with North American Countries

Title 19 › Chapter 12— TRADE ACT OF 1974 › Subchapter VI— GENERAL PROVISIONS › § 2486

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Congress says the United States should seek a trade deal with Canada to help keep both economies stable. The President may begin talks to create a U.S.-Canada free trade area, but Congress has not approved any laws needed to carry it out. The President must study whether trade agreements with countries in the northern part of the Western Hemisphere would boost growth and markets, report to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees within 2 years after July 26, 1979, and look at competition in agriculture, energy, and other sectors.

Full Legal Text

Title 19, §2486

Customs Duties — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)It is the sense of the Congress that the United States should enter into a trade agreement with Canada which will guarantee continued stability to the economies of the United States and Canada. In order to promote such economic stability, the President may initiate negotiations for a trade agreement with Canada to establish a free trade area covering the United States and Canada. Nothing in this section shall be construed as prior approval of any legislation which may be necessary to implement such a trade agreement.
(b)The President shall study the desirability of entering into trade agreements with countries in the northern portion of the western hemisphere to promote the economic growth of the United States and such countries and the mutual expansion of market opportunities and report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate his findings and conclusions within 2 years after July 26, 1979. The study shall include an examination of competitive opportunities and conditions of competition between such countries and the United States in the agricultural, energy, and other appropriate sectors.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1979—Pub. L. 96–39 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1979 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–39 effective July 26, 1979, see section 1114 of Pub. L. 96–39, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 2581 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

19 U.S.C. § 2486

Title 19 — Customs Duties

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60