Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that amends United States trade laws with respect to Japanese auto markets, "Super 301" sanctions, Japaneses, Taiwanese, and Korean rice markets, customs enforcement, anti-dumping laws, and other tariff and non-tariff trade regulations.

Highlights:

- Extends the "Super 301" authority through 1997, which requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to identity foreign trade practices that, if eliminated, yield the greatest potential for increasing U.S. exports (Sec. 101). - Authorizes any "interested person" to request that the USTR determine if a foreign country is in compliance with the terms of a trade agreement with the U.S., and requires that the USTR decide what action to take if that country is found to be in violation [sec. 102 (b) & (d)]. - Defines "interested person," with respect to the above highlight, as any individual with an economic interest that is being adversely affected by a foreign country's non-compliance of terms of trade agreements with the U.S. [sec. 102 (a) (1)]. - Requires the USTR to identify foreign products that are directly related to the unreasonable denial of intellectual property rights, and that such denial is a burden or restriction on U.S. commerce. The Secretary of Treasury is required to deny entry of such product into the U.S., unless that country is taking steps to adequately restore such rights and alleviate such trade burdens [sec. 106 (a-b)]. - Requires the USTR to investigate all acts, policies, and practices of Japan, Korea, and Taiwan that affect the access of rice and rice products produced in the United States to those markets. The USTR then must report to Congress on the effectiveness of bilateral negotiations in eliminating those acts, policies, and practices, and make recommendations for future actions (Sec. 103). - Requires the USTR to investigate the trade practices of Japan that affect the access to the Japanese market of motor vehicles or motor vehicle parts produced by manufactures in the U.S., excluding those that are Japanese owned or controlled [sec. 111 (a)]. - Requires the USTR to negotiate a comprehensive new trade agreement with Japan with respect to the automotive market that [sec. 111 (b)]:

- Eliminates or modifies acts, policies, and practices that serve as barriers to the Japanese market for exports of motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts produced by United States manufacturers; - Provides for the expeditious implementation and enforcement by the Japanese Government of existing trade agreements; - Establishes longer term goals for the purchase by Japanese motor vehicle manufacturers of high value-added motor vehicle parts and accessories from United States manufacturers; - Establishes procedures for the exchange of information between the United States and Japanese Governments that will permit the accurate assessment of the bilateral trade in motor vehicle parts; and - Commits Japan to voluntarily limit their annual export of motor vehicles to the United States to no more than 1.65 million units, so long as the European community restricts Japanese access to its automobile market.

- Requires the President to determine which Federal agency will oversee the implementation of the Action Plan (a trade agreement entered into by the U.S. and Japan in January, 1992) to achieve fair trade in motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts, including the commitment to have Japanese transplant vehicle manufacturers purchase at least 70 percent of their motor vehicle parts from U.S. manufacturers. Failure to adhere to the agreement could result in a trade sanctions [sec. 111 (d-e)]. - Requires the Secretary of Commerce to establish the National Customs Automation Program: an automated and electronic system to process commercial imports [sec. 231 (411)]. - Requires the International Trade Commission (ITC) to investigate whether market disruption exists in regards to imports from a countries with a state-controlled economy, and allows the President to provide the relief recommended by the ITC, unless it would seriously impair the national security of the U.S. (Sec. 401). - Requires the President to impose sanctions on any foreign entity that knowingly provides nuclear material to any non-nuclear entity for their use, development, or stockpiling, whether or not the goods are specifically designed or modified for such use [sec. 412 (a)]. - Requires the administering authority, when determining if certain foreign parts are bypassing an anti-dumping or countervailing duty order, to consider [sec. 425 (a) (1)]:

- The pattern of trade; - The historical value and supply of such parts; - The relation between the exporter of the parts and the individual that assembles those parts in the U.S.; and - Whether the parts produced have increased after the issuance of the order.

- Requires the administering authority, with regard to the scope of anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders, to including imported parts that are used in the completion or assembly of merchandise sold in the U.S. [sec. 425 (a)]. - Requires the Secretary of Commerce and the ITC to report to Congress a study, including recommendations, regarding modification standards of countervailing and anti-dumping duty actions in order to make petitioning for such initiations less costly and more accessible for domestic petitioners (Sec. 426).

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text