Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015
Latest action · May 1, 2015 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 69.
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.
- IntroducedApr 17, 2015
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015
(Sec. 2) Declares the overall trade negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to any agreement with a foreign country to reduce or eliminate existing tariffs or nontariff barriers of that country or the United States that are unduly burdening and restricting U.S. trade. Includes among such objectives:
- more open, equitable, and reciprocal market access;
- the reduction or elimination of trade barriers and distortions that are directly related to trade and investment and that decrease market opportunities for U.S. exports or otherwise distort U.S. trade;
- stronger international trade and investment disciplines and procedures, including dispute settlement;
- enhanced U.S. competitiveness;
- protection of the environment;
- respect for worker and children rights consistent with International Labor Organization core labor standards; and
- equal access of small businesses to international markets.
Declares the principal trade negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to:
- goods and services;
- agriculture;
- foreign investment;
- intellectual property;
- digital goods and services, as well as cross-border data flows;
- regulatory practices;
- state-owned and state-controlled enterprises;
- localization barriers to trade;
- labor and the environment;
- currency;
- the World Trade Organization (WTO) and multilateral trade agreements;
- trade institution transparency;
- anti-corruption;
- dispute settlement and enforcement;
- trade remedy laws;
- border taxes;
- textile negotiations;
- commercial partnerships, especially with Israel; and
- good governance, transparency, operation of legal regimes, and the rule of law of U.S. trading partners.
Directs the President, in order to maintain U.S. competitiveness in the global economy, to engage in specified capacity building activities with respect to foreign countries that seek to enter into trade agreements with the United States.
(Sec. 3) Authorizes the President to enter into trade agreements with foreign countries for the reduction or elimination of tariff or nontariff barriers before July 1, 2018, or before July 1, 2021, if trade authorities procedures are extended to implementing bills (congressional approval) with respect to such agreements.
Authorizes the President to proclaim necessary or appropriate modifications or continuation of any existing duty, continuation of existing duty-free or excise treatment, or additional duties to carry out any such agreement.
(Sec. 4) Subjects trade agreements to congressional oversight and approval, consultations, and access to information requirements.
Requires the convening each Congress of the House and the Senate Advisory Groups on Negotiations to consult with and advise the United States Trade Representative (USTR) regarding the formulation of specific objectives, negotiating strategies and positions, the development of the applicable trade agreement, and compliance and enforcement of the negotiated commitments under the trade agreement.
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to establish within the Office of the USTR the position of Chief Transparency Officer to consult with Congress on transparency policy, coordinate transparency in trade negotiations, engage and assist the public, and advise the USTR on transparency policy.
(Sec. 5) Specifies presidential notifications, consultations, reports, and other actions and their deadlines that must take place for any trade agreement to enter into force.
Specifies requirements for negotiations regarding agriculture, the fishing industry, and textiles.
(Sec. 6) Prescribes procedures for resolutions of disapproval in the House and the Senate before the President enters into any trade agreement.
Declares that trade authorities procedures shall not apply to any implementing bill submitted with respect to a trade agreement entered into if both chambers of Congress agree by a certain deadline to a procedural disapproval resolution for lack of notice or consultations.
(Sec. 7) Prescribes requirements for the treatment of trade agreements entered into under the auspices of the WTO or with the Trans-Pacific Partnership countries or the European Union which result from negotiations commenced before enactment of this Act.
(Sec. 8) Declares that any provision of a trade agreement that is inconsistent with any U.S. laws shall be null and void.
(Sec. 9) Expresses the sense of Congress that the USTR should facilitate participation of small businesses in the trade negotiation process.
Cosponsors 3
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Apr 17, 2015.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-TX | Henry Cuellar | Original | Apr 17, 2015 |
| R-OH | Patrick J. Tiberi | Original | Apr 17, 2015 |
| R-TX | Pete Sessions | Original | Apr 17, 2015 |
Committees 3
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred Apr 17, 2015Markup Apr 23, 2015Reported May 1, 2015 |
| Trade Subcommittee | Referred Apr 21, 2015 | |
| House | Rules Committee | Referred Apr 17, 2015Discharged May 1, 2015 |
| House | Budget Committee | Referred Apr 17, 2015Discharged May 1, 2015 |
Actions 9
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 1, 2015Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 114-100, Part I.
- May 1, 2015Committee on Rules discharged.
- May 1, 2015Committee on the Budget discharged.
- May 1, 2015Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 69.
- Apr 23, 2015Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Apr 23, 2015Ordered to be Reported (Amended).
- Apr 21, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
- Apr 17, 2015Introduced in House
- Apr 17, 2015Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, and the Budget, 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.
In the Congressional Record 2
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H2448, H2449–H2453 | Bonnie Watson Coleman D-NJ, Donald Norcross D-NJ, Marcy Kaptur D-OH, Rosa L. DeLauro D-CT | Apr 23, 2015 |
| House | Lists H2315H.R. 1890–1893 | — | Apr 17, 2015 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Apr 30, 2015H.R. 1890, Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015As ordered reported by the House Committee on Ways and Means on April 23, 2015
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 161, no. 56, April 17, 2015, page H2315.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 114-221 | CONGRESS AND U.S. TARIFF POLICY145 pages | Finance Committee | Apr 16, 2015–Apr 21, 2015 |
CRS reports 5
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 5
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| RS20210 | Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms Archived | Report | Oct 13, 2020 |
| R43491 | Trade Promotion Authority (TPA): Frequently Asked Questions Archived | Report | Jun 21, 2019 |
| R41550 | U.S.-Vietnam Economic and Trade Relations: Issues for the 114th Congress Archived | Report | May 20, 2016 |
| RL33743 | Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and the Role of Congress in Trade Policy Archived | Report | Jul 2, 2015 |
| R44015 | International Investment Agreements (IIAs): Frequently Asked Questions Archived | Report | May 15, 2015 |
Related bills 3
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 995 | Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 | Identical bill | May 12, 2015 |
| HR 1314 | Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 | Related bill | Nov 2, 2015 |
| HR 2146 | Defending Public Safety Employees' Retirement Act | Related bill | Jun 29, 2015 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To establish congressional trade negotiating objectives and enhanced consultation requirements for trade negotiations, to provide for consideration of trade agreements, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015
- Short Titles as Reported to House
- Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Advisory bodies
- Agricultural practices and innovations
- Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit
- Agricultural trade
- Child safety and welfare
- Competitiveness, trade promotion, trade deficits
- Congressional operations and organization
- Congressional oversight
- Digital media
- Economic development
- Economic performance and conditions
- Employment discrimination and employee rights
- Environmental health
- Environmental regulatory procedures
- Food assistance and relief
- Food supply, safety, and labeling
- Foreign Trade and International Finance
- Free trade and trade barriers
- Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
- Government information and archives
- Human rights
- Intellectual property
- International law and treaties
- International monetary system and foreign exchange
- International organizations and cooperation
- Internet and video services
- Internet, web applications, social media
- Labor standards
- Legislative rules and procedure
- Marine pollution
- Members of Congress
- Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
- Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents
- Rule of law and government transparency
- Rural conditions and development
- Service industries
- Small business
- Sovereignty, recognition, national governance and status
- Tariffs
- Tax administration and collection, taxpayers
- Trade agreements and negotiations
- Trade restrictions
- U.S. and foreign investments
- Unemployment
- Wetlands
- Worker safety and health
- Youth employment and child labor
Text 2
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 1, 2015Reported in House
- Apr 17, 2015Introduced 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; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
