Trade Authority Protection Act
A BILL
To provide for congressional review of the imposition of duties and other trade measures by the executive branch, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Review of congressionally delegated trade actions
“155. Review of congressionally delegated trade actions
“(a) Congressionally delegated trade action defined
“(1) In general—In this section, the term congressionally delegated trade action means any of the following actions taken with respect to the importation of an article pursuant to a provision of law specified in paragraph (2):
“(A) A prohibition on importation of the article.
“(B) The imposition of or an increase in a duty applicable to the article.
“(C) The imposition or tightening of a tariff-rate quota applicable to the article.
“(D) The imposition or tightening of a quantitative restriction on the importation of the article.
“(E) The suspension, withdrawal, or prevention of the application of trade agreement concessions with respect to the article.
“(F) Any other restriction on importation of the article.
“(2) Provisions of law specified—The provisions of law specified in this paragraph are the following:
“(A) Section 122.
“(B) Title III.
“(C) Sections 406, 421, and 422.
“(D) Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1338).
“(E) Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862).
“(F) Section 103(a) of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4202(a)).
“(G) The Trading with the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.).
“(H) The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).
“(I) Any provision of law enacted to implement a trade agreement to which the United States is a party.
“(3) Exception for technical corrections to Harmonized Tariff Schedule—A technical correction to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States shall not be considered a congressionally delegated trade action for purposes of this section.
“(b) Effective date for congressionally delegated trade action
“(1) In general—A congressionally delegated trade action shall take effect 60 days after the date of the submission of the report required under paragraph (2) unless a joint resolution of disapproval is enacted pursuant to subsection (d).
“(2) Report required—With respect to any proposed congressionally delegated trade action, the President shall submit to Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States a report that includes—
“(A) a description of the proposed action;
“(B) the proposed effective period for the action;
“(C) an analysis of the action, including whether the action is in the national economic interest of the United States;
“(D) an assessment of the potential effect of retaliation from trading partners affected by the action;
“(E) an analysis of the economic impacts of the action and of such retaliation; and
“(F) a list of articles that will be affected by the action by subheading number of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
“(c) Report of Comptroller General—Not later than 15 days after the submission of the report required by subsection (b)(1) with respect to a proposed congressionally delegated trade action, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report on the proposed action that includes an assessment of the compliance of the President with the provision of law specified in subsection (a)(2) pursuant to which the action would be taken.
“(d) Congressional Review Act procedures for joint resolution of disapproval
“(1) Application of Congressional Review Act procedures—A joint resolution under this subsection shall be considered in the same manner and subject to the same procedures as a joint resolution under section 802 of title 5, United States Code (referred to as the “Congressional Review Act”), except that subsection (b)(2) of such section shall be applied by substituting the date of the submission of the report required under paragraph (2) for the “submission or publication date” under such subsection.
“(2) Joint resolution defined—For purposes of this subsection, the term joint resolution means only a joint resolution of either House of Congress, the matter after the resolving clause of which is as follows: “That Congress disapproves the action proposed by the President in the report submitted to Congress under section 155(b)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974 on _______, and such action shall have no force or effect.”, with the blank space being filled with the appropriate date.
“(e) Report by the United States International Trade Commission—Not later than 12 months after the date on which a congressionally delegated trade action enters into effect pursuant to this section, the United States International Trade Commission shall submit to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives a report on the effects of the action on the United States economy, including a comprehensive assessment of the economic effects of the action on producers and consumers in the United States.”