§4206 Treatment of Certain Trade Agreements for Which Negotiations Have Already Begun

Summary

Lets the President skip a prior notice step for certain trade talks if he quickly tells and consults with Congress. It applies to five kinds of agreements: ones done under the World Trade Organization; Trans‑Pacific Partnership talks that had been notified by June 29, 2015; agreements with the European Union; WTO services talks notified by June 29, 2015; and WTO talks on environmental goods notified by June 29, 2015. For those deals, whether special trade-vote rules apply will be decided without counting the old pre‑negotiation notice rule, and Congress may not use certain procedural motions just because that notice was not given. The President must, as soon as possible after June 29, 2015, tell Congress which talks, the U.S. goals, and whether he seeks a new deal or changes, and must consult the listed congressional committees and advisory groups before and after giving notice. Separately, the President may use proclamation power to put into effect an APEC agreement to cut duties on environmental goods listed in the APEC Leaders’ Annex C (dated September 9, 2012) without the usual pre‑notice, but only if, as soon as possible after December 18, 2015 (and also after February 24, 2016), and before issuing the proclamation, he notifies Congress about the talks and the U.S. objectives.