Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Promoting Transparency in Trade Act”.
Promoting Transparency in Trade Act
A BILL
To amend the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 to require the publication of the negotiating position of the United States for each proposed trade agreement after each meeting of the parties to the trade agreement, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Publications of texts of trade agreements after each round of negotiations
Negotiations— Section 105(a)(1) of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4204(a)(1)) is amended—
in subparagraph (C), by striking “and” at the end;
in subparagraph (D), by striking the period and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(E) publish the United States position on a publicly available Internet website at the conclusion of each negotiating round for the proposed agreement.”
Procedural disapproval resolution— Section 106(b) of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4205(b)) is amended—
in paragraph (1)—
in the heading, by striking “or consultations” and inserting “, consultations, or publication of positions”; and
in subparagraph (B)—
in clause (i)—
by striking “to notify or consult” and all that follows through “on negotiations” and inserting “, in accordance with the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015, to notify or consult on, or publish United States positions with respect to, negotiations”; and
by striking “notify or consult.” and inserting “notify, consult, or publish United States positions.”; and
in clause (ii)—
in the matter preceding subclause (I), by striking “has “failed or refused to notify or consult in accordance with the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015” on negotiations” and inserting “has “failed, in accordance with the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015, to notify or consult on, or publish United States positions with respect to,” negotiations”;
in subclause (III), by striking “or” at the end;
in subclause (IV), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(V) the President has failed, under section 105(a)(1)(E), to publish the United States position at the conclusion of each negotiating round of the parties on the agreement.”
in paragraphs (3)(C) and (4)(C), by striking “to notify or consult” and all that follows through “on negotiations” and inserting “, in accordance with the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015, to notify or consult on, or publish United States positions with respect to, negotiations”.
Definitions— Section 111 of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 is amended—
by redesignating paragraphs (19) through (23) as paragraphs (20) through (24), respectively;
by inserting after paragraph (18) the following new paragraph:
“(19) United states position—The term United States position means, with respect to a negotiating round, the full text of each proposal comprising the negotiating position of the United States at the conclusion of such negotiating round and includes each new proposal offered by the United States at such negotiating round.”
by redesignating paragraphs (21) through (24) (as so designated under paragraph (1)) as paragraphs (22) through (25); and
by inserting after paragraph (20) the following new paragraph:
“(21) Negotiating round—The term negotiating round means, with respect to the parties to negotiations on an agreement under section 103(b), a meeting of the trade ministers (or designees) of every party to such negotiations.”
Sec. 3 USTR Transparency Officer
Section 141(b)(3) of the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the following: “The Trade Representative shall ensure that the individual who is appointed the Chief Transparency Officer does not, because of any other position the individual holds or otherwise, have, or appear to have, any conflict of interest in ensuring the transparency of the activities of the Office of the Trade Representative, including trade negotiations.”.