19 USC 3802 - Trade negotiating objectives

U.S Code last checked for updates: Nov 22, 2024

§ 3802.

Trade negotiating objectives

(a)

Overall trade negotiating objectives

The overall trade negotiating objectives of the United States for agreements subject to the provisions of section 3803 of this title are—

(1)

to obtain more open, equitable, and reciprocal market access;

(2)

to obtain the reduction or elimination of barriers and distortions that are directly related to trade and that decrease market opportunities for United States exports or otherwise distort United States trade;

(3)

to further strengthen the system of international trading disciplines and procedures, including dispute settlement;

(4)

to foster economic growth, raise living standards, and promote full employment in the United States and to enhance the global economy;

(5)

to ensure that trade and environmental policies are mutually supportive and to seek to protect and preserve the environment and enhance the international means of doing so, while optimizing the use of the world’s resources;

(6)

to promote respect for worker rights and the rights of children consistent with core labor standards of the ILO (as defined in section 3813(6) of this title) and an understanding of the relationship between trade and worker rights;

(7)

to seek provisions in trade agreements under which parties to those agreements strive to ensure that they do not weaken or reduce the protections afforded in domestic environmental and labor laws as an encouragement for trade;

(8)

to ensure that trade agreements afford small businesses equal access to international markets, equitable trade benefits, and expanded export market opportunities, and provide for the reduction or elimination of trade barriers that disproportionately impact small businesses; and

(9)

to promote universal ratification and full compliance with ILO Convention No. 182 Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor.

(b)

Principal trade negotiating objectives

(1)

Trade barriers and distortions

The principal negotiating objectives of the United States regarding trade barriers and other trade distortions are—

(A)

to expand competitive market opportunities for United States exports and to obtain fairer and more open conditions of trade by reducing or eliminating tariff and nontariff barriers and policies and practices of foreign governments directly related to trade that decrease market opportunities for United States exports or otherwise distort United States trade; and

(B)

to obtain reciprocal tariff and nontariff barrier elimination agreements, with particular attention to those tariff categories covered in section 3521(b) of this title.

(2)

Trade in services

(3)

Foreign investment

Recognizing that United States law on the whole provides a high level of protection for investment, consistent with or greater than the level required by international law, the principal negotiating objectives of the United States regarding foreign investment are to reduce or eliminate artificial or trade-distorting barriers to foreign investment, while ensuring that foreign investors in the United States are not accorded greater substantive rights with respect to investment protections than United States investors in the United States, and to secure for investors important rights comparable to those that would be available under United States legal principles and practice, by—

(A)

reducing or eliminating exceptions to the principle of national treatment;

(B)

freeing the transfer of funds relating to investments;

(C)

reducing or eliminating performance requirements, forced technology transfers, and other unreasonable barriers to the establishment and operation of investments;

(D)

seeking to establish standards for expropriation and compensation for expropriation, consistent with United States legal principles and practice;

(E)

seeking to establish standards for fair and equitable treatment consistent with United States legal principles and practice, including the principle of due process;

(F)

providing meaningful procedures for resolving investment disputes;

(G)

seeking to improve mechanisms used to resolve disputes between an investor and a government through—

(i)

mechanisms to eliminate frivolous claims and to deter the filing of frivolous claims;

(ii)

procedures to ensure the efficient selection of arbitrators and the expeditious disposition of claims;

(iii)

procedures to enhance opportunities for public input into the formulation of government positions; and

(iv)

providing for an appellate body or similar mechanism to provide coherence to the interpretations of investment provisions in trade agreements; and

(H)

ensuring the fullest measure of transparency in the dispute settlement mechanism, to the extent consistent with the need to protect information that is classified or business confidential, by—

(i)

ensuring that all requests for dispute settlement are promptly made public;

(ii)

ensuring that—

(I)

all proceedings, submissions, findings, and decisions are promptly made public; and

(II)

all hearings are open to the public; and

(iii)

establishing a mechanism for acceptance of amicus curiae submissions from businesses, unions, and nongovernmental organizations.

(4)

Intellectual property

The principal negotiating objectives of the United States regarding trade-related intellectual property are—

(A)

to further promote adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights, including through—

(i)

(I)

ensuring accelerated and full implementation of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights referred to in section 3511(d)(15) of this title, particularly with respect to meeting enforcement obligations under that agreement; and

(II)

ensuring that the provisions of any multilateral or bilateral trade agreement governing intellectual property rights that is entered into by the United States reflect a standard of protection similar to that found in United States law;

(ii)

providing strong protection for new and emerging technologies and new methods of transmitting and distributing products embodying intellectual property;

(iii)

preventing or eliminating discrimination with respect to matters affecting the availability, acquisition, scope, maintenance, use, and enforcement of intellectual property rights;

(iv)

ensuring that standards of protection and enforcement keep pace with technological developments, and in particular ensuring that rightholders have the legal and technological means to control the use of their works through the Internet and other global communication media, and to prevent the unauthorized use of their works; and

(v)

providing strong enforcement of intellectual property rights, including through accessible, expeditious, and effective civil, administrative, and criminal enforcement mechanisms;

(B)

to secure fair, equitable, and nondiscriminatory market access opportunities for United States persons that rely upon intellectual property protection; and

(C)

to respect the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, adopted by the World Trade Organization at the Fourth Ministerial Conference at Doha, Qatar on November 14, 2001.

(5)

Transparency

The principal negotiating objective of the United States with respect to transparency is to obtain wider and broader application of the principle of transparency through—

(A)

increased and more timely public access to information regarding trade issues and the activities of international trade institutions;

(B)

increased openness at the WTO and other international trade fora by increasing public access to appropriate meetings, proceedings, and submissions, including with regard to dispute settlement and investment; and

(C)

increased and more timely public access to all notifications and supporting documentation submitted by parties to the WTO.

(6)

Anti-corruption

The principal negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to the use of money or other things of value to influence acts, decisions, or omissions of foreign governments or officials or to secure any improper advantage in a manner affecting trade are—

(A)

to obtain high standards and appropriate domestic enforcement mechanisms applicable to persons from all countries participating in the applicable trade agreement that prohibit such attempts to influence acts, decisions, or omissions of foreign governments; and

(B)

to ensure that such standards do not place United States persons at a competitive disadvantage in international trade.

(7)

Improvement of the WTO and multilateral trade agreements

The principal negotiating objectives of the United States regarding the improvement of the World Trade Organization, the Uruguay Round Agreements, and other multilateral and bilateral trade agreements are—

(A)

to achieve full implementation and extend the coverage of the World Trade Organization and such agreements to products, sectors, and conditions of trade not adequately covered; and

(B)

to expand country participation in and enhancement of the Information Technology Agreement and other trade agreements.

(8)

Regulatory practices

The principal negotiating objectives of the United States regarding the use of government regulation or other practices by foreign governments to provide a competitive advantage to their domestic producers, service providers, or investors and thereby reduce market access for United States goods, services, and investments are—

(A)

to achieve increased transparency and opportunity for the participation of affected parties in the development of regulations;

(B)

to require that proposed regulations be based on sound science, cost-benefit analysis, risk assessment, or other objective evidence;

(C)

to establish consultative mechanisms among parties to trade agreements to promote increased transparency in developing guidelines, rules, regulations, and laws for government procurement and other regulatory regimes; and

(D)

to achieve the elimination of government measures such as price controls and reference pricing which deny full market access for United States products.

(9)

Electronic commerce

The principal negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to electronic commerce are—

(A)

to ensure that current obligations, rules, disciplines, and commitments under the World Trade Organization apply to electronic commerce;

(B)

to ensure that—

(i)

electronically delivered goods and services receive no less favorable treatment under trade rules and commitments than like products delivered in physical form; and

(ii)

the classification of such goods and services ensures the most liberal trade treatment possible;

(C)

to ensure that governments refrain from implementing trade-related measures that impede electronic commerce;

(D)

where legitimate policy objectives require domestic regulations that affect electronic commerce, to obtain commitments that any such regulations are the least restrictive on trade, nondiscriminatory, and transparent, and promote an open market environment; and

(E)

to extend the moratorium of the World Trade Organization on duties on electronic transmissions.

(10)

Reciprocal trade in agriculture

(A)

The principal negotiating objective of the United States with respect to agriculture is to obtain competitive opportunities for United States exports of agricultural commodities in foreign markets substantially equivalent to the competitive opportunities afforded foreign exports in United States markets and to achieve fairer and more open conditions of trade in bulk, specialty crop, and value-added commodities by—

(i)

reducing or eliminating, by a date certain, tariffs or other charges that decrease market opportunities for United States exports—

(I)

giving priority to those products that are subject to significantly higher tariffs or subsidy regimes of major producing countries; and

(II)

providing reasonable adjustment periods for United States import-sensitive products, in close consultation with the Congress on such products before initiating tariff reduction negotiations;

(ii)

reducing tariffs to levels that are the same as or lower than those in the United States;

(iii)

reducing or eliminating subsidies that decrease market opportunities for United States exports or unfairly distort agriculture markets to the detriment of the United States;

(iv)

allowing the preservation of programs that support family farms and rural communities but do not distort trade;

(v)

developing disciplines for domestic support programs, so that production that is in excess of domestic food security needs is sold at world prices;

(vi)

eliminating government policies that create price-depressing surpluses;

(vii)

eliminating state trading enterprises whenever possible;

(viii)

developing, strengthening, and clarifying rules and effective dispute settlement mechanisms to eliminate practices that unfairly decrease United States market access opportunities or distort agricultural markets to the detriment of the United States, particularly with respect to import-sensitive products, including—

(I)

unfair or trade-distorting activities of state trading enterprises and other administrative mechanisms, with emphasis on requiring price transparency in the operation of state trading enterprises and such other mechanisms in order to end cross subsidization, price discrimination, and price undercutting;

(II)

unjustified trade restrictions or commercial requirements, such as labeling, that affect new technologies, including biotechnology;

(III)

unjustified sanitary or phytosanitary restrictions, including those not based on scientific principles in contravention of the Uruguay Round Agreements;

(IV)

other unjustified technical barriers to trade; and

(V)

restrictive rules in the administration of tariff rate quotas;

(ix)

eliminating practices that adversely affect trade in perishable or cyclical products, while improving import relief mechanisms to recognize the unique characteristics of perishable and cyclical agriculture;

(x)

ensuring that import relief mechanisms for perishable and cyclical agriculture are as accessible and timely to growers in the United States as those mechanisms that are used by other countries;

(xi)

taking into account whether a party to the negotiations has failed to adhere to the provisions of already existing trade agreements with the United States or has circumvented obligations under those agreements;

(xii)

taking into account whether a product is subject to market distortions by reason of a failure of a major producing country to adhere to the provisions of already existing trade agreements with the United States or by the circumvention by that country of its obligations under those agreements;

(xiii)

otherwise ensuring that countries that accede to the World Trade Organization have made meaningful market liberalization commitments in agriculture;

(xiv)

taking into account the impact that agreements covering agriculture to which the United States is a party, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, have on the United States agricultural industry;

(xv)

maintaining bona fide food assistance programs and preserving United States market development and export credit programs; and

(xvi)

striving to complete a general multilateral round in the World Trade Organization by January 1, 2005, and seeking the broadest market access possible in multilateral, regional, and bilateral negotiations, recognizing the effect that simultaneous sets of negotiations may have on United States import-sensitive commodities (including those subject to tariff-rate quotas).

(B)

(i)

Before commencing negotiations with respect to agriculture, the United States Trade Representative, in consultation with the Congress, shall seek to develop a position on the treatment of seasonal and perishable agricultural products to be employed in the negotiations in order to develop an international consensus on the treatment of seasonal or perishable agricultural products in investigations relating to dumping and safeguards and in any other relevant area.

(ii)

During any negotiations on agricultural subsidies, the United States Trade Representative shall seek to establish the common base year for calculating the Aggregated Measurement of Support (as defined in the Agreement on Agriculture) as the end of each country’s Uruguay Round implementation period, as reported in each country’s Uruguay Round market access schedule.

(iii)

The negotiating objective provided in subparagraph (A) applies with respect to agricultural matters to be addressed in any trade agreement entered into under section 3803(a) or (b) of this title, including any trade agreement entered into under section 3803(a) or (b) of this title that provides for accession to a trade agreement to which the United States is already a party, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement.

(11)

Labor and the environment

The principal negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to labor and the environment are—

(A)

to ensure that a party to a trade agreement with the United States does not fail to effectively enforce its environmental or labor laws, through a sustained or recurring course of action or inaction, in a manner affecting trade between the United States and that party after entry into force of a trade agreement between those countries;

(B)

to recognize that parties to a trade agreement retain the right to exercise discretion with respect to investigatory, prosecutorial, regulatory, and compliance matters and to make decisions regarding the allocation of resources to enforcement with respect to other labor or environmental matters determined to have higher priorities, and to recognize that a country is effectively enforcing its laws if a course of action or inaction reflects a reasonable exercise of such discretion, or results from a bona fide decision regarding the allocation of resources, and no retaliation may be authorized based on the exercise of these rights or the right to establish domestic labor standards and levels of environmental protection;

(C)

to strengthen the capacity of United States trading partners to promote respect for core labor standards (as defined in section 3813(6) of this title);

(D)

to strengthen the capacity of United States trading partners to protect the environment through the promotion of sustainable development;

(E)

to reduce or eliminate government practices or policies that unduly threaten sustainable development;

(F)

to seek market access, through the elimination of tariffs and nontariff barriers, for United States environmental technologies, goods, and services; and

(G)

to ensure that labor, environmental, health, or safety policies and practices of the parties to trade agreements with the United States do not arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate against United States exports or serve as disguised barriers to trade.

(12)

Dispute settlement and enforcement

The principal negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to dispute settlement and enforcement of trade agreements are—

(A)

to seek provisions in trade agreements providing for resolution of disputes between governments under those trade agreements in an effective, timely, transparent, equitable, and reasoned manner, requiring determinations based on facts and the principles of the agreements, with the goal of increasing compliance with the agreements;

(B)

to seek to strengthen the capacity of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism of the World Trade Organization to review compliance with commitments;

(C)

to seek adherence by panels convened under the Dispute Settlement Understanding and by the Appellate Body to the standard of review applicable under the Uruguay Round Agreement involved in the dispute, including greater deference, where appropriate, to the fact-finding and technical expertise of national investigating authorities;

(D)

to seek provisions encouraging the early identification and settlement of disputes through consultation;

(E)

to seek provisions to encourage the provision of trade-expanding compensation if a party to a dispute under the agreement does not come into compliance with its obligations under the agreement;

(F)

to seek provisions to impose a penalty upon a party to a dispute under the agreement that—

(i)

encourages compliance with the obligations of the agreement;

(ii)

is appropriate to the parties, nature, subject matter, and scope of the violation; and

(iii)

has the aim of not adversely affecting parties or interests not party to the dispute while maintaining the effectiveness of the enforcement mechanism; and

(G)

to seek provisions that treat United States principal negotiating objectives equally with respect to—

(i)

the ability to resort to dispute settlement under the applicable agreement;

(ii)

the availability of equivalent dispute settlement procedures; and

(iii)

the availability of equivalent remedies.

(13)

WTO extended negotiations

(14)

Trade remedy laws

The principal negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to trade remedy laws are—

(A)

to preserve the ability of the United States to enforce rigorously its trade laws, including the antidumping, countervailing duty, and safeguard laws, and avoid agreements that lessen the effectiveness of domestic and international disciplines on unfair trade, especially dumping and subsidies, or that lessen the effectiveness of domestic and international safeguard provisions, in order to ensure that United States workers, agricultural producers, and firms can compete fully on fair terms and enjoy the benefits of reciprocal trade concessions; and

(B)

to address and remedy market distortions that lead to dumping and subsidization, including overcapacity, cartelization, and market-access barriers.

(15)

Border taxes

(16)

Textile negotiations

(17)

Worst forms of child labor

(c)

Promotion of certain priorities

In order to address and maintain United States competitiveness in the global economy, the President shall—

(1)

seek greater cooperation between the WTO and the ILO;

(2)

seek to establish consultative mechanisms among parties to trade agreements to strengthen the capacity of United States trading partners to promote respect for core labor standards (as defined in section 3813(6) of this title) and to promote compliance with ILO Convention No. 182 Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor, and report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate on the content and operation of such mechanisms;

(3)

seek to establish consultative mechanisms among parties to trade agreements to strengthen the capacity of United States trading partners to develop and implement standards for the protection of the environment and human health based on sound science, and report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate on the content and operation of such mechanisms;

(4)

conduct environmental reviews of future trade and investment agreements, consistent with Executive Order 13141 of November 16, 1999, and its relevant guidelines, and report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate on such reviews;

(5)

review the impact of future trade agreements on United States employment, including labor markets, modeled after Executive Order 13141 to the extent appropriate in establishing procedures and criteria, report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate on such review, and make that report available to the public;

(6)

take into account other legitimate United States domestic objectives including, but not limited to, the protection of legitimate health or safety, essential security, and consumer interests and the law and regulations related thereto;

(7)

direct the Secretary of Labor to consult with any country seeking a trade agreement with the United States concerning that country’s labor laws and provide technical assistance to that country if needed;

(8)

in connection with any trade negotiations entered into under this chapter, submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a meaningful labor rights report of the country, or countries, with respect to which the President is negotiating, on a time frame determined in accordance with section 3807(b)(2)(E) of this title;

(9)

with respect to any trade agreement which the President seeks to implement under trade authorities procedures, submit to the Congress a report describing the extent to which the country or countries that are parties to the agreement have in effect laws governing exploitative child labor;

(10)

continue to promote consideration of multilateral environmental agreements and consult with parties to such agreements regarding the consistency of any such agreement that includes trade measures with existing environmental exceptions under Article XX of the GATT 1994;

(11)

report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate, not later than 12 months after the imposition of a penalty or remedy by the United States permitted by a trade agreement to which this chapter applies, on the effectiveness of the penalty or remedy applied under United States law in enforcing United States rights under the trade agreement; and

(12)

seek to establish consultative mechanisms among parties to trade agreements to examine the trade consequences of significant and unanticipated currency movements and to scrutinize whether a foreign government is engaged in a pattern of manipulating its currency to promote a competitive advantage in international trade.

The report under paragraph (11) shall address whether the penalty or remedy was effective in changing the behavior of the targeted party and whether the penalty or remedy had any adverse impact on parties or interests not party to the dispute.

(d)

Consultations

(1)

Consultations with congressional advisers

(2)

Consultation before agreement initialed

In the course of negotiations conducted under this chapter, the United States Trade Representative shall—

(A)

consult closely and on a timely basis (including immediately before initialing an agreement) with, and keep fully apprised of the negotiations, the congressional advisers for trade policy and negotiations appointed under section 2211 of this title, the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Finance of the Senate, and the Congressional Oversight Group convened under section 3807 of this title; and

(B)

with regard to any negotiations and agreement relating to agricultural trade, also consult closely and on a timely basis (including immediately before initialing an agreement) with, and keep fully apprised of the negotiations, the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate.

(e)

Adherence to obligations under Uruguay Round Agreements

(Pub. L. 107–210, div. B, title XXI, § 2102, Aug. 6, 2002, 116 Stat. 994; Pub. L. 108–429, title II, § 2004(a)(16), Dec. 3, 2004, 118 Stat. 2591.)

cite as: 19 USC 3802