Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Trade Transparency and Public Input Act of 2018”.
Trade Transparency and Public Input Act of 2018
A BILL
To require the United States Trade Representative to permit the public to submit comments on trade agreement negotiations through the Internet.
Sec. 2 Public comments on trade 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” and inserting a semicolon;
in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(E) at least 30 calendar days before initiating negotiations with a country, publish on a publicly available Internet website of the Office of the United States Trade Representative an easily accessible portal—
“(i) that allows the public to electronically submit comments on the negotiations for the duration of the negotiations; and
“(ii) which shall be in addition to requests for comments issued by the United States Trade Representative through notice in the Federal Register.”