119-s776

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 776 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 776

 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

 February 27, 2025

 Mr. Coons (for himself and Mr. Moran) 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 ``Undertaking Negotiations on 
Investment and Trade for Economic Dynamism Act'' or the ``UNITED Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

 It is the sense of Congress that--

    (1) the United States should pursue more open trade and 
 investment relationships with its allies to strengthen the 
 economy of the United States, improve the standard of living 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 a unique opportunity to deepen the mutually beneficial 
 economic and strategic 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 strengthen 
 that relationship, improve the economic prospects of people in 
 both countries, increase the resilience of critical supply 
 chains, and create export opportunities for businesses of all 
 sizes;

    (5) the efforts of the United States-United Kingdom Trade 
 and Investment Working Group and the bilateral negotiations 
 initiated by President Donald J. 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 Joseph R. Biden, 
 along with the signing of the document entitled ``Atlantic 
 Declaration: A Framework for a Twenty-First Century U.S.-U.K. 
 Economic Partnership'', continued efforts to improve economic 
 cooperation between the United States and 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) Congress passed the USMCA with overwhelming bipartisan 
 support, setting 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 negotiations between the United States and 
 the United Kingdom must honor 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 any trade agreement between those countries 
 must advance peace, stability, and prosperity in Ireland and 
 Northern Ireland;

    (11) the United Kingdom, like many key trading partners of 
 the United States, is actively negotiating for expanded access 
 to foreign markets, and the United States must likewise seek to 
 advance its access to foreign markets to ensure that 
 businesses, consumers, farmers, ranchers, and workers in the 
 United States are not left behind; and

    (12) 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.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) USMCA.--The term ``USMCA'' means the Agreement between 
 the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and 
 Canada, which is--
        (A) 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
        (B) approved by Congress under 

section 101

    (a)

    (1) of 
 the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement 
 Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 4511

    (a) ).

    (2) United kingdom.--The term ``United Kingdom'' means the 
 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

SEC. 4. NEGOTIATING AND TRADE AGREEMENTS AUTHORITY FOR COMPREHENSIVE 
 AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED KINGDOM.

    (a) Initiation of Negotiations.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, in order to enhance the economic 
well-being of the United States, the President shall seek to initiate 
negotiations with the United Kingdom regarding tariff and nontariff 
barriers affecting any industry, product, or service sector.

    (b) Authority for Comprehensive Trade Agreement With the United 
Kingdom.--

    (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 trade between the 
 United States and United Kingdom.

    (2) Termination of authority.--The authority under 
 paragraph

    (1) terminates on March 1, 2029.
            (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 March 1, 
 2029, 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.--To ensure the 
alignment of the trade policy priorities of Congress with the content 
of any agreement under this section, the President shall consult with 
Congress before and throughout negotiations initiated under subsection

    (a) and shall 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 March 1, 2029.

    (f) Limitation on Waiver, Suspension, or Termination.--An agreement 
entered into under this section shall not be waived, suspended, or 
terminated, in whole or in part, 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).
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