Trade Act of 1974/Title I/Chapter 3

TITLE I, CHAPTER 3 — HEARINGS AND ADVICE CONCERNING NEGOTIATIONS

Sec. 131. International Trade Commission advice.

(a) In connection with any proposed trade agreement under chapter 1 or section 123 or 124, the President shall from time to time publish and furnish the International Trade Commission (hereafter in this section referred to as the "Commission") with lists of articles which may be considered for modification or continuance of United States duties, continuance of United States duty-free or excise treatment, or additional duties. In the case of any article with respect to which consideration may be given to reducing or increasing the rate of duty, the list shall specify the provision of this title pursuant to which such consideration may be given.

(b) Within 6 months after receipt of such a list or, in the case of a list submitted in connection with a trade agreement authorized under section 123, within 90 days after receipt of such list, the Commission shall advise the President with respect to such article of its judgement as to the probable economic effect of modifications of duties on industries producing like or directly competitive articles and on consumers, so as to assist the President in making an informed judgement as to the impact which might be caused by such modifications on United States manufacturing, agriculture, mining, fishing, labor, and consumers. Such advice may include in the case of any article the advice of the Commission as to whether any reduction in the rate of duty should take place over a longer period than the minimum periods provided by section 109(a).

(c) In addition, in order to assist the President in his determination of whether to enter into any agreement under section 102, the Commission shall make such investigations and reports as may be requested by the President, including, where feasible, advice as to the probable economic effects of modifications of any barrier to (or other distortion of) international trade on domestic industries and purchasers and on prices and quantities of articles in the United States.

(d) In preparing its advice to the President under this section, the Commission shall, to the extent practicable—

(1) investigate conditions, causes, and effects relating to competition between the foreign industries providing the articles in question and the domestic industries producing the like or directly competitive articles;

(2) analyze the production, trade, and consumption of each like or directly competitive article, taking into consideration employment, profit levels, and use of productive facilities with respect to the domestic industries concerned, and such other economic factors in such industries as it considers relevant, including prices, wages, sales, inventories, patterns of demand, capital investment, obsolescence of equipment, and diversification of production;

(3) describe the probable nature and extent of any significant change in employment, profit levels, and use of productive facilities, and such other conditions as it deems relevant in the domestic industries concerned which it believes such modifications would cause; and

(4) make special studies (including studies of real wages paid in foreign supplying countries), whenever deemed to be warranted, of particular proposed modifications affecting United States manufacturing, agriculture, mining, fishing, labor, and consumers, utilizing to the fullest extent practicable United States Government facilities abroad and appropriate personnel of the United States.

(e) In preparing its advice to the President under this section, the Commission shall, after reasonable notice, hold public hearings.

Sec. 132. Advice from departments and other sources.

Before any trade agreement is entered into under Chapter 1 or section 123 or 124, the President shall seek information and advice with respect to such agreement from the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Interior, Labor, State and the Treasury, from the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations, and from such other sources as he may deem appropriate.

Sec. 133. Public hearings.

(a) In connection with any proposed trade agreement under chapter 1 or section 123 or 124, the President shall afford an opportunity for any interested person to present his views concerning any article on a list published pursuant to section 131, any article which should be so listed, any concession which should be sought by the United States, or any other matter relevant to such proposed trade agreement. For this purpose, the President shall designate an agency or an interagency committee which shall, after reasonable notice, hold public hearings and prescribe regulations governing the conduct of such hearings.

(b) The organization holding such hearings shall furnish the President with a summary thereof.

Sec. 134. Prerequisites for offers.

In any negotiations seeking an agreement under chapter 1 or section 123 or 124, the President may make an offer for the modification or continuance of any United States duty, import restrictions, or barriers to (or other distortions of) international trade, the continuance of United States duty-free or excise treatment, or the imposition of additional duties, import restriction, or other barrier to (or other distortion of) international trade, with respect to any article only after he has received a summary of the hearings at which an opportunity to be heard with respect to such article has been afforded under section 133. In addition, the President may make an offer for the modification or continuance of any United States duty, the continuance of United States duty-free or excise treatment, or the imposition of additional duties, with respect to any article included in a list published and furnished under section 131(a), only after he has received advice concerning such article from the International Trade Commission under section 131(b), or after the expiration of the 6-month or 90-day period provided for in that section, as appropriate, whichever first occurs.

Sec. 135. Advice from private sector.

(a) The President, in accordance with the provisions of this section, shall seek information and advice from representative elements of the private sector with respect to negotiating objectives and bargaining positions before entering into a trade agreement referred to in section 101 or 102.

(b) (1) The President shall establish an Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations to provide overall policy advice on any trade agreement referred to in section 101 or 102. The Committee shall be composed of not more than 45 individuals, and shall include representatives of government, labor, industry, agriculture, small business, service industries, retailers, consumer interests, and the general public.

(2) The Committee shall meet at the call of the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations, who shall be the Chairman, The Committee shall terminate upon submission of its report required under subsection (e)(2). Members of the Committee shall be appointed by the President for a period of 2 years and may be reappointed for one or more additional periods.

(3) The Special Representative for Trade Negotiations shall make available to the Committee such staff, information, personnel, and administrative services and assistance as it may reasonably require to carry out its activities.

(c) (1) The President may, on his own initiative or at the request of organizations representing industry, labor, or agriculture, establish general policy advisory committees for industry, labor, and agriculture, respectively, to provide general policy advice on any trade agreement referred to in section 101 or 102. Such committees shall, insofar as practicable, be representative of all industry, labor, or agricultural interests (including small business interests), respectively, and shall be organized by the President acting through the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations and the Secretaries of Commerce, Labor, and Agriculture, as appropriate.

(2) The President shall, on his own initiative or at the request of organizations in a particular sector, establish such industry, labor, or agricultural sector advisory committees as he determines to be necessary for any trade negotiations referred to in section 101 or 102. Such committees shall, so far as practicable, be representative of all industry, labor, or agricultural interests including small business interests in the sector concerned. In organizing such committees the President, acting through the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations and the Secretary of Commerce, Labor, or Agriculture, as appropriate, (A) shall consult with interested private organizations, and (B) shall take into account such factors as patterns of actual and potential competition between United States industry and agriculture and foreign enterprise in international trade, the character of the nontariff barriers and other distortions affecting such competition, the necessity for reasonable limits on the number of such product sector advisory committees, the necessity that each committee be reasonably limited in size, and that the product lines covered by each committee be reasonably related.

(d) Committees established pursuant to subsection (c) shall meet at the call of the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations, before and during any trade negotiations, to provide the following:

(1) policy advice on negotiations);

(2) technical advice and information on negotiations on particular products both domestic and foreign; and

(3) advice on other factors relevant to positions of the United States in trade negotiations.

(e) (1) The Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations, each appropriate policy advisory committee, and each sector advisory committee, if the sector which such committee represents is affected, shall meet at the conclusion of negotiations for each trade agreement entered into under this Act, to provide to the President, to Congress, and to the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations a report on such agreement. The report of the Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and each appropriate policy advisory committee shall include an advisory opinion as to whether and to what extent the agreement promotes the economic interests of the United States and the report of the appropriate sector committee shall include an advisory opinion as to whether the agreement provides for equity and reciprocity within the sector.

(2) The Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations, each policy advisory committee, and each sector advisory committee shall issue a report to the Congress as soon as is practical after the end of the period which ends 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act. The report of the Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and each policy advisory committee shall include an advisory opinion on the degree to which trade agreements entered into under this Act which affect the sector represented by each such committee, taken as a whole, provide for equity and reciprocity within that sector.

(f) The provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Public Law 92-463) shall apply—

(1) to the Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations established pursuant to subsection (b); and

(2) to all other advisory committees which may be established pursuant to subsection (c); except that the meetings of advisory groups established under subsection (c) shall be exempt from the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of section 10 and section 11 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (relating to open meetings, public notice, public participation, and public availability of documents), whenever and to the extent it is determined by the President or his designee that such meetings will be concerned with matters the disclosure of which would seriously compromise the Government's negotiating objectives or bargaining positions on the negotiation of any trade agreement.

(g) (1) (A) Trade secrets and commercial or financial information which is privileges or confidential, submitted in confidence by the private sector to officers or employees of the United States in connection with trade negotiations, shall not be disclosed to any person other than to—

(i) officers and employees of the United States designated by the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations, and

(ii) members of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate who are accredited as official advisers under section 161(a) or are designated by the chairman of either such committee under section 161(b)(2), and members of the staff of either such committee designated by the chairman under section 161(b)(2),

for use in connection with negotiation of a trade agreement referred to in section 101 or 102.

(B) Information, other than that described in paragraph (A), and advice submitted in confidence by the private sector to officers to employees of the United States, to the Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations or to any advisory committee established under subsection (c), in connection with trade negotiations, shall not be disclosed to any person other than—

(i) the individuals described in subparagraph (A), and

(ii) the appropriate advisory committees established under this section.

(2) Information submitted in confidence by officers or employees of the United States to the Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations, or to any advisory committee established under subsection (c), shall not be disclosed other than in accordance with rules issued by the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations and the Secretary of Commerce, Labor or Agriculture, as appropriate, after consultation with the relevant advisory committees established under subsection (c). Such rules shall define the categories of information which require restricted or confidential handling by such committee considering the extent to which public disclosure of such information can reasonably be expected to prejudice United States negotiating objectives. Such rules shall, to the maximum extent feasible, permit meaningful consultations by advisory committee members with persons affected by proposed trade agreements.

(h) The Special Representative for Trade Negotiations, and the Secretary of Commerce, Labor, or Agriculture, as appropriate, shall provide such staff, information, personnel, and administrative services and assistance to advisory committees established pursuant to subsection (c) as such committees may reasonably require to carry out their activities.

(i) It shall be the responsibility of the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations, in conjunction with the Secretary of Commerce, Labor, or Agriculture, as appropriate, to adopt procedures for consultation with and obtaining information and advice from the advisory committees established pursuant to subsection (c) on a continuing and timely basis, both during preparation for negotiations and actual negotiations. Such consultation shall include the provision of information to each advisory committee as to (1) significant issues and developments arising in preparation for or in the course of such negotiations, and (2) overall negotiating objectives and positions of the United States and other parties to the negotiations. The Special Representative for Trade Negotiations shall not be bound by the advice or recommendations of such advisory committees but the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations shall inform the advisory committees of failures to accept such advice or recommendations, and the President shall include in his statement to the Congress, required by section 163, a report by the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations on consultation with such committees, issues involved in such consultation, and the reasons for not accepting advice or recommendations.

(j) In addition to any advisory committee established pursuant to this section, the President shall provide adequate, timely, and continuing opportunity for the submission on an informal and, if such information is submitted under the provisions of subsection (g), confidential basis by private organizations or groups, representing labor, industry, agriculture, small business, service industries, consumer interests, and others, of statistics, data, and other trade information, as well as policy recommendations, pertinent to the negotiation of any trade agreement referred to in section 101 or 102.

(k) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to authorize or permit any individual to participate directly in any negotiation of any trade agreement referred to in section 101 or 102.