§4205 Implementation of Trade Agreements

Summary

A trade agreement will only take effect for the United States if the President follows several public notice and paperwork steps. The President must tell both Houses of Congress at least 90 calendar days before signing and publish that notice in the Federal Register. The full agreement text must be posted on the USTR website at least 60 days before signing. Within 60 days after signing, the President must send Congress a description of what existing laws would need to change. At least 30 days before the main package is sent, the President must give Congress a draft of any administrative actions and a copy of the final legal text. After signing, on a day when both Houses are in session, the President must send Congress the final text, a draft implementing bill, a statement of proposed administrative actions, and supporting information that explains how the bill and actions change law, states how the agreement advances the chapter’s goals (including how it affects prior agreements, U.S. commerce, and how the bill meets required standards), and the President must make that information public. The implementing bill must become law, and the President must notify Congress in writing at least 30 days before the agreement takes effect that other parties have done what is needed for the provisions that start then. The implementing bill must limit benefits to parties to the agreement (and may apply benefits differently among them if the agreement allows). Any side deal with a foreign government that is not disclosed to Congress before an implementing bill is introduced is not part of the agreement and has no legal force. The special trade approval rules (“trade authorities procedures”) do not apply in certain cases. They are blocked if each House separately approves a procedural disapproval resolution within a 60-day window after one House agrees to such a resolution; that resolution must say the President failed to notify or consult as required. The President is treated as having failed to notify or consult if he did not follow sections 4203 and 4204, if required guidelines were not developed or met, if he did not meet advisory groups when requested, or if the agreement fails to make progress on the chapter’s goals. Such resolutions may be introduced by any Member and are sent to specific committees (House: Ways and Means and Rules; Senate: Finance) and may not be amended. If the Senate Finance Committee does not favorably report an implementing bill, it must report a resolution and, if the Senate agrees, trade authorities procedures do not apply in the Senate. If Ways and Means reports a bill without a favorable recommendation and a Member quickly files a consultation and compliance resolution, Ways and Means must consider it on a set timetable; if adopted by the House, trade authorities procedures do not apply there. By December 15, 2015, the Secretary of Commerce had to send Congress a report on WTO dispute panels; trade authorities do not apply to WTO-negotiated implementing bills unless that report was sent by that date. The procedures also do not apply to agreements with countries listed as “tier 3” in the most recent annual Trafficking in Persons report, unless the President sends a public letter with detailed evidence that the country has taken concrete corrective actions. If a country moves from tier 3 in one report to the tier 2 watch list in the next report, the President must send supporting evidence to Congress within set deadlines (for the change shown in the 2015 report, within 90 days after February 24, 2016; for changes in 2016 or later, within 90 days after that report is submitted). The statute names: the annual Trafficking in Persons report, the “appropriate congressional committees” (House: Ways and Means and Foreign Affairs; Senate: Finance and Foreign Relations), the “tier 2 watch list,” and “tier 3 country.” These procedures are put into the rules of each House of Congress and each House may change its rules just like any other rule.