Securing Privileged Economic, Commercial, Investment, And Legal Rights to Ensure Longstanding Atlantic Trade and Investment Opportunities and Nurture Security, Happiness, Innovation, and Prosperity Act or the SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP Act
This bill grants certain authorities to the President for entering into a comprehensive trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom (UK).
Specifically, the bill directs the President to initiate negotiations with the UK regarding tariff and nontariff barriers affecting any industry, product, or service sector.
The bill authorizes the President to enter into a comprehensive trade agreement with the UK, with such authority expiring on July 1, 2027. Further, the President may proclaim a modification or continuance of any existing duty or continuance of existing excise or duty-free treatment to carry out an agreement, with certain limitations.
The bill also requires the President to consult with and notify Congress regarding the intention of the President to enter into an agreement or make a proclamation.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4450 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4450
To provide the President with authority to enter into a comprehensive
trade agreement with the United Kingdom, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 22, 2022
Mr. Portman (for himself and Mr. Coons) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide the President with authority to enter into a comprehensive
trade agreement with the United Kingdom, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Securing Privileged Economic,
Commercial, Investment, And Legal Rights to Ensure Longstanding
Atlantic Trade and Investment Opportunities and Nurture Security,
Happiness, Innovation, and Prosperity Act'' or the ``SPECIAL
RELATIONSHIP Act''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) In General.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) more open trade and investment relationships with
allies of the United States serve to strengthen the economy of
the United States, improve the well-being of the people of the
United States, and advance the strategic interests of the
United States;
(2) agreements to reduce or eliminate barriers to trade and
investment between the United States and its allies will foster
mutually beneficial economic relationships that advance the
economic interests of workers, farmers, ranchers, and
businesses of all sizes in the United States;
(3) the shared values and long history of the ``special
relationship'' between the United States and the United Kingdom
present an opportunity to deepen the mutually beneficial
economic relationship between those countries and further
expand prosperity for the citizens of those countries;
(4) a high-standard, comprehensive trade agreement between
the United States and the United Kingdom would help achieve
those aims and be in the national interest of the United
States;
(5) the efforts of the United States-United Kingdom Trade
and Investment Working Group and the bilateral negotiations
initiated by President Donald Trump have laid groundwork toward
a comprehensive trade agreement;
(6) The United States-United Kingdom Dialogue on the Future
of Atlantic Trade initiated by President Joe Biden continues
longstanding efforts to improve economic cooperation between
the United States and the United Kingdom;
(7) the robust labor and environmental protections in the
United Kingdom reduce the risk of regulatory arbitrage that
undercuts workers and businesses in the United States;
(8) the USMCA, which was passed with overwhelming
bipartisan support, set high standards in North America with
respect to labor rights, the environment, intellectual
property, non-market practices, and services, and those
standards should inform future negotiations;
(9) trade agreements with foreign trading partners that
share the values and ambition of the United States offer an
opportunity to build on the USMCA and set high international
standards across many important policy areas;
(10) any trade agreement between the United States and the
United Kingdom must uphold the agreement between the Government
of Ireland and the Government of the United Kingdom signed on
April 10, 1998 (commonly known as the ``Good Friday
Agreement''), and support continued peace and stability in
Ireland and Northern Ireland; and
(11) to effectively pursue comprehensive trade negotiations
with the United Kingdom for purposes of a trade agreement
between the United States and the United Kingdom, Congress must
grant new negotiating authority to the President, which
should--
(A) enable the swift negotiation and passage
through Congress of such an agreement; and
(B) be narrowly tailored to provide clear direction
to the executive branch of the United States
Government.
(b) USMCA Defined.--In this section, the term ``USMCA'' means the
Agreement between the United States of America, the United Mexican
States, and Canada, which is--
(1) attached as an Annex to the Protocol Replacing the
North American Free Trade Agreement with the Agreement between
the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and
Canada, done at Buenos Aires on November 30, 2018, as amended
by the Protocol of Amendment to the Agreement Between the
United States of America, the United Mexican States, and
Canada, done at Mexico City on December 10, 2019; and
(2) approved by Congress under section 101(a)(1) of the
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act (19
U.S.C. 4511(a)).
SEC. 3. NEGOTIATING AND TRADE AGREEMENTS AUTHORITY FOR COMPREHENSIVE
AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED KINGDOM.
(a) Initiation of Negotiations.--In order to enhance the economic
well-being of the United States, the President shall initiate
negotiations with the United Kingdom regarding tariff and nontariff
barriers affecting any industry, product, or service sector.
(b) Authority for Agreement.--
(1) In general.--To strengthen the economic competitiveness
of the United States, the President may enter into a
comprehensive trade agreement with the United Kingdom regarding
tariff and nontariff barriers affecting any industry, product,
or service sector.
(2) Termination of authority.--The authority under
paragraph (1) terminates on July 1, 2027.
(c) Modifications Permitted.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the President
may proclaim such modification or continuance of any existing
duty, continuance of existing duty-free or excise treatment, or
such additional duties as the President determines to be
required or appropriate to carry out an agreement entered into
under subsection (b).
(2) Limitations.--
(A) Modifications or additions to agreement.--
Substantial modifications to, or substantial additional
provisions of, an agreement entered into after July 1,
2027, are not covered by the authority under paragraph
(1).
(B) Amount of duty modification.--No proclamation
may be made under paragraph (1) that--
(i) reduces any rate of duty (other than a
rate of duty that does not exceed 5 percent ad
valorem on the date of the enactment of this
Act) to a rate of duty that is less than 50
percent of the rate of such duty that applies
on such date of enactment;
(ii) reduces the rate of duty below that
applicable under the Uruguay Round Agreements
(as defined in section 2(7) of the Uruguay
Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501)) or a
successor agreement, on any import sensitive
agricultural product; or
(iii) increases any rate of duty above the
rate that applied on the date of the enactment
of this Act.
(d) Consultation With and Notification to Congress.--The President
shall consult with Congress regarding, and notify Congress of, the
intention of the President to enter into an agreement under subsection
(b) or to make a proclamation under subsection (c).
(e) Bills Qualifying for Trade Authorities Procedures.--
(1) Implementing bills.--
(A) In general.--The provisions of section 151 of
the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2191) apply to a bill
of either House of Congress that contains provisions
described in subparagraph (B) to the same extent as
such section 151 applies to implementing bills under
that section. A bill to which this paragraph applies
shall hereafter in this section be referred to as an
``implementing bill''.
(B) Provisions specified.--The provisions described
in this subparagraph are--
(i) a provision approving a trade agreement
entered into under this section and approving
the statement of administrative action, if any,
proposed to implement such trade agreement; and
(ii) if changes in existing laws or new
statutory authority are required to implement
such trade agreement, only such provisions as
are strictly necessary or appropriate to
implement such trade agreement, either
repealing or amending existing laws or
providing new statutory authority.
(2) Deadline for submission of bill.--The procedures under
paragraph (1) apply to implementing bills submitted with
respect to a trade agreement entered into under this section
before July 1, 2027.
(f) Limitation on Termination.--An agreement entered into under
this section shall not terminate with respect to the United States
without the express approval by Congress of such termination.
(g) Relationship to Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and
Accountability Act of 2015.--An agreement under this section shall not
enter into force with respect to the United States and an implementing
bill shall not qualify for trade authorities procedures under
subsection (e), including an agreement that does not require changes to
United States law or an implementing bill in connection therewith,
unless the following requirements under the Bipartisan Congressional
Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4201 et
seq.) are carried out with respect to that agreement or implementing
bill to the same extent as would be required of an agreement entered
into under section 103(b) of that Act (19 U.S.C. 4202(b)),
notwithstanding the expiration of authority to enter into an agreement
under such section 103(b):
(1) The trade negotiating objectives under section 102 of
that Act (19 U.S.C. 4201).
(2) The congressional oversight and consultation
requirements under section 104 of that Act (19 U.S.C. 4203).
(3) The notification, consultation, and reporting
requirements under section 105 of that Act (19 U.S.C. 4204).
(4) The implementation procedures under section 106 of that
Act (19 U.S.C. 4205).
(5) The provisions related to sovereignty under section 108
of that Act (19 U.S.C. 4207).
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
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