S.Amdt. 2679

1. Adds TITLE V--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS at the end of the bill

   Adds a title

   In S. 1637 · Reported to Senate

   (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2003.

   Inserted: TITLE V--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

   Inserted: SEC. 501. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

   Inserted: (a) Findings.--The Senate makes the following findings:

   Inserted: (1) Manufacturing is critical to the health of the United States economy, generating high quality products, personal opportunity, careers, wealth, high standards of living, and economic growth.

   Inserted: (2) In July 2000 the manufacturing sector slipped into recession and since has lost 2,700,000 high paying manufacturing jobs, while the rest of the economy has added 623,000 jobs.

   Inserted: (3) The manufacturing sector faces intense global competition, making it difficult for many firms to operate profitably and earn a sufficient return on capital invested.

   Inserted: (4) The manufacturing sector in the United States seeks a global level playing field for competition and markets.

   Inserted: (5) China entered the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2001 and agreed to abide by the commitments ascribed in its accession.

   Inserted: (6) United States investors and exporters recognize the opportunity of doing business with China but have raised serious concerns that many of the commitments China made upon joining the WTO have not yet been implemented or implementation has been inadequate.

   Inserted: (7) A clear example of injury committed by China to a United States industry can be found in the United States candle industry, where between 1997 and 2002, imports of wax candles from China increased from 46,000,000 pounds to 174,000,000 pounds and where in 2002 alone, the United States candle industry lost 128,000,000 pounds in sales to the Chinese.

   Inserted: (8) Market barriers and unfair trade practices continue to exist in China, including high tariffs, subsidies, technical trade restrictions, counterfeiting, violations of intellectual property rights, and nonmarket-based industrial, economic, and financial policies that limit United States exports.

   Inserted: (9) United States manufacturers will not be able to achieve a fair and level playing field with their Chinese counterparts because of the costs associated with the United States regulatory framework, e.g., compliance with labor and environmental regulations, as well as healthcare costs, which are non-existent costs for Chinese companies.

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   Inserted: (10) The currency of China, the yuan, has been fixed relative to the United States dollar since 1994.

   Inserted: (11) A systemically misvalued currency by any large country can have damaging trade-distorting effects on both that country and its trading partners by decreasing the price of exports of products of that country and increasing the price of imports to that country.

   Inserted: (12) The market-based valuation of currencies is a key component to resilient global trading systems by enabling smoother transitions to reflect underlying economic fundamentals in a country.

   Inserted: (13) The President's Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors recently described the outsourcing of American jobs overseas "as a good thing" and said, "outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade".

   Inserted: (14) Job retention and creation are essential to the economic stability of the United States and the administration should pursue policies that serve as an engine for economic growth, higher wage jobs, and increased productivity.

   Inserted: (15) A salient example of the trade barriers faced by United States manufacturers is the lack of adequate intellectual property protection and enforcement in the markets of some of America's major trading partners.

   Inserted: (16) For United States manufacturers, protection of intellectual property is not an abstract concept. America's competitive edge ensues directly from innovation and rising productivity. Intellectual property protection is the best means for ensuring that American manufacturers enjoy the benefits of their investments in research and development and of their efforts to raise productivity.

   Inserted: (17) To the extent that United States investment in research and development provides a competitive edge in the marketplace, the protection of the intellectual property developed by United States manufacturers, which embodies the product of that research, becomes critical to the future of the manufacturing sector.

   Inserted: (18) It is estimated that counterfeits account for 15 to 20 percent of all products made in China and accounts for about 8 percent of China's Gross Domestic Product.

   Inserted: (19) Industry analysts estimate that intellectual property rights piracy in China cost United States firms $1,850,000,000 in lost sales in 2002.

   Inserted: (20) Under the terms of China's WTO accession, China agreed to immediately bring its intellectual property rights laws in compliance with the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

   Inserted: (b) Sense of Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that--

   Inserted: (1) the United States Trade Representative should continue to actively encourage China's compliance with its WTO commitments, specifically with regard to intellectual property rights violations;

   Inserted: (2) the Secretary of the Treasury should encourage the Chinese to make the significant structural reforms, particularly in the banking sector, to ensure that China can effectively adopt a more flexible exchange rate regime;

   Inserted: (3) the Senate urges the President, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the United States Trade Representative to continue their strong dialogue with China, and if these discussions fail to produce immediate, meaningful results, the Senate urges the United States Trade Representative to commence a review under section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974;

   Inserted: (4) the Senate should oppose any efforts to encourage the outsourcing of American jobs overseas;

   Inserted: (5) the Senate should adopt legislation providing for a manufacturing tax incentive to encourage job creation in the United States and oppose efforts to make it cheaper to send jobs overseas;

   Inserted: (6) the Secretary of Commerce should aggressively pursue those foreign producers and importers who have violated United States trade law and when violations have resulted in the injury of United States industry, the Secretary of Commerce should impose the maximum penalty within the confines of our trade laws;

   Inserted: (7) the United States Trade Representative should promote the protection of United States intellectual property abroad by expanding cooperative efforts with developing country trading partners to encourage the full implementation of their obligations under the WTO's Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS);

   Inserted: (8) the administration should pursue a policy of aggressive investigation of allegations of theft of intellectual property, particularly allegations in which American manufacturers are compelled to divulge intellectual property as a condition of market access or investment; and

   Inserted: (9) the administration should pursue a policy of aggressive enforcement of our existing intellectual property laws, and in so doing, shall continue to work hand in hand with business and industry to identify and prosecute counterfeiters.

   Original wording

   At the end of the bill, add the following:

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As printed