National Copper Policy Act of 1985

(Reported to House from the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs with amendment, H. Rept. 99-246 (Part I))

National Copper Policy Act of 1985 - Declares that it is U.S. policy to negotiate agreements temporarily limiting copper production by foreign copper producers in order to: (1) ensure an adequate supply of domestic copper; (2) expand employment in the copper industry; and (3) stabilize foreign copper production. Declares that if such an agreement is not reached an additional tariff should be applied to all imported copper for at most five years.

Directs the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) to conduct a study to determine how the recent closures of U.S. copper mines and smelters affected the U.S. copper reserves and production capacity. Requires the Secretary to submit the results of the study to the Congress within 90 days of the date of enactment of this Act.

Directs the President, acting through the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), to undertake negotiations during the six months after enactment of this Act with all major copper producing countries for the purpose of achieving voluntary restraint agreements. Directs the President to report to the Congress whether such voluntary restraint agreements will take effect between the United States and the major copper producing countries. Directs the USTR, if such voluntary restraint agreements take effect, to monitor the production of unwrought copper by those countries during each 12-month period within the copper import restraint period. Directs the USTR to report the results of such monitoring to the Congress. Imposes a surcharge on all copper imports if voluntary restraint agreements do not take effect for the copper import restraint period. Imposes a surcharge on copper imports if the USTR reports that major copper producing countries during a specified 12-month period did not satisfactorily comply with the voluntary restraint agreements.

Directs the President to monitor the major domestic copper companies during each interval when copper import restraints are in effect and to determine if, during that interval: (1) such companies, as a whole, committed substantially all their net cash flow from copper mining and smelting operations for reinvestment and modernization of the industry and took sufficient action to maintain their international competitiveness; and (2) each of the major domestic copper companies committed not less than one percent of net cash flow to the retraining of workers, unless the President waives such requirement. Provides for suspending voluntary restraint agreements or copper surcharges if the President finds that the domestic copper companies did not comply with such conditions.