Trade Enforcement Act of 2008
Latest action · Sep 29, 2008 Referred to the Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJul 17, 2008
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Trade Enforcement Act of 2008 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to revise certain trade provisions to require the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to: (1) review U.S. trade expansion priorities; and (2) report to Congress on priority foreign country practices which if eliminated will have the most potential to increase U.S. exports.
Requires the USTR to seek consultation and satisfactory resolution of any identified priority foreign country trade practice (including an agreement for elimination or provision of compensatory trade benefits) with the country of concern.
Establishes the Office of the Congressional Trade Enforcer.
Requires the USTR to: (1) identify priority foreign countries that maintain technical barriers to trade, or sanitary or phytosanitary measures, that deny market access to U.S. products; and (2) initiate an investigation of such trade barriers to determine what trade action, if any, must be taken to remedy such barriers.
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to apply countervailing duty provisions to nonmarket economy countries.
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States should restore the balance between rights and obligations struck during the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations; (2) the United States should have the ability to enforce rigorously its trade laws (including antidumping, countervailing duty, and safeguard laws) in World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations and dispute settlement proceedings; and (2) dispute settlement panels are obligated to follow WTO negotiated agreements and not Appellate Body jurisprudence.
Revises requirements for presidential action on a finding by the International Trade Commission (ITC) regarding an imported Chinese product that threatens or causes market disruption to a like U.S. product.
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish: (1) a government-wide, uniform data system to identify all goods imported into the United States; and (2) a voluntary government-private Import Safety Program to ensure that all goods in the international supply chain do not pose risks to public health or safety, and to facilitate the movement of such goods through the chain.
Requires the Secretary to establish: (1) a list of importers of record and foreign manufacturers, processing facilities, exporters, and suppliers whose imported products have been determined to be inadmissible into the United States or have been the subject of U.S. recalls because of violations of health or safety standards; and (2) sanctions for entities on the list.
Establishes the position of Director of Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement to develop an annual strategic plan for the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
Sets forth: (1) enforcement activities to combat the counterfeiting and piracy of products; and (2) civil fines for the import of pirated or counterfeit products.
Cosponsors 8
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jul 17, 2008 to Sep 29, 2008, with 1 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MI | Sander M. Levin | Original | Jul 17, 2008 |
| D-PA | Allyson Y. Schwartz | Jul 31, 2008 | |
| D-AL | Artur Davis | Jul 31, 2008 | |
| D-PA | Jason Altmire | Jul 31, 2008 | |
| D-NV | Shelley Berkley | Jul 31, 2008 | |
| R-PA | Tim Murphy | Jul 31, 2008 | |
| D-CA | Xavier Becerra | Jul 31, 2008 | |
| D-MA | Richard E. Neal | Sep 29, 2008 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Sep 29, 2008Referred to the Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism.
- Jul 17, 2008Introduced in House
- Jul 17, 2008Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, and Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 1919 | Trade Enforcement Act of 2007 | Related bill | May 22, 2008 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance.
- Administrative remedies
- Advanced technology and technological innovations
- Advisory bodies
- Asia
- Business records
- Canada
- China
- Competitiveness, trade promotion, trade deficits
- Congressional operations and organization
- Congressional oversight
- Department of the Treasury
- Employment and training programs
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Federal officials
- Foreign aid and international relief
- Foreign and international corporations
- Foreign Trade and International Finance
- Free trade and trade barriers
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Intellectual property
- International organizations and cooperation
- Latin America
- Law enforcement officers
- Lawyers and legal services
- Legislative rules and procedure
- Mexico
- Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
- Product safety and quality
- Public-private cooperation
- Tariffs
- Trade agreements and negotiations
- Trade restrictions
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jul 17, 2008Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.