2000
[DOCID: f:s1584is.txt]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1584
To provide for review in the Court of International Trade of certain
determinations of binational panels under the North American Free Trade
Agreement.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 25, 2001
Mr. Craig (for himself, Mr. Baucus, and Mr. Cochran) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for review in the Court of International Trade of certain
determinations of binational panels under the North American Free Trade
Agreement.
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 ``Integrity of the United States
Courts Act of 2001''.
SEC. 2. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF BINATIONAL PANEL DECISIONS.
(a) In General.--Subtitle A of title IV of the North American Free
Trade Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 3431 et seq.) is amended
by inserting after section 404 the following new section:
``SEC. 404A. REVIEW OF BINATIONAL PANEL DETERMINATIONS.
``(a) Basis for Review in Court of International Trade.--
``(1) In general.--If, within 30 days after publication in
the Federal Register of notice that a binational panel has
issued a determination following a review under article 1904 of
a decision of a competent investigating authority in the United
States, a party or person within the meaning of paragraph 5 of
article 1904 alleges that--
``(A)(i) the determination of the panel was based
on a misinterpretation of United States law;
``(ii) a member of a panel was guilty of a gross
misconduct, bias, or a serious conflict of interest, or
otherwise materially violated the rules of conduct,
``(iii) the panel seriously departed from a
fundamental rule of procedure, or
``(iv) the panel manifestly exceeded its powers,
authority, or jurisdiction set out in article 1904, as
in failing to apply the appropriate standard of review,
and
``(B) any of the actions described in subparagraph
(A) has materially affected the panel's decision and
threatens the integrity of the binational panel review
process,
then such party or person may file an appeal with the United
States Court of International Trade, seeking review of the
binational panel determination, pursuant to section 516A of the
Tariff Act of 1930.
``(2) Review in court of international trade where
binational panel does not act.--If a request for a panel review
has been made under article 1904 and a panel is not convened
within 315 days of the request, the Party requesting the panel
review or person within the meaning of paragraph 5 of article
1904 may file an appeal of the antidumping or countervailing
duty determination with respect to which the request was filed
with the United States Court of International Trade.
``(b) Decisions of the Court.--
``(1) In general.--In any appeal filed under subsection
(a)(1) for review of a binational panel determination, the
Court of International Trade shall, after examining the legal
and factual analysis underlying the findings and conclusions of
the panel's decision, determine whether any of the actions
described in subsection (a)(1)(A) has been established. If the
court finds that any of those actions has been established, the
court shall vacate the original panel decision and enter
judgment accordingly. If the actions are not established, the
court shall affirm the original binational panel decision.
Decisions of the Court of International Trade under this
section shall be binding on the parties with respect to the
matters between the parties that were before the panel.
``(2) Decisions where panel not convened.--In the case of
an appeal filed under subsection (a)(2) for review of a
determination of a competent investigating authority, the Court
of International Trade shall, after examining the legal and
factual analysis underlying the findings and conclusions of the
investigating authority's determination, determine whether the
determination was made in accordance with article 1904. If the
court finds that the determination was not in accordance with
article 1904 or is not supported by the legal and factual
analysis, the court shall vacate the investigating authority's
determination and enter judgment accordingly. If the court
finds that the determination was in accordance with article
1904 and is supported by the legal and factual analysis, the
court shall affirm the investigating authority's determination.
Decisions of the Court of International Trade under this
section shall be binding on the parties with respect to the
matters between the parties that would have been before a panel
had the panel been convened.
``(c) Exclusive Jurisdiction.--If a party or person within the
meaning of paragraph 5 of article 1904 timely files a notice of appeal
to the Court of International Trade pursuant to this section, then
jurisdiction exclusively resides with the United States Court of
International Trade, and such determinations are not subject to review
by an extraordinary challenge committee under paragraph 13 of article
1904.
``(d) Applicability.--Subsections (a)(1), (b)(1), and (c) apply to
all goods from NAFTA countries which were subject to an antidumping
duty or countervailing duty determination of a competent investigating
authority in the United States.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents of the North
American Free Trade Implementation Act is amended by inserting after
the item relating to section 404 the following:
``Sec. 404A. Review of binational panel determinations.''.
SEC. 3. JURISDICTION OF THE COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE.
Section 516A of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1516a) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(2)--
(A) in subparagraph (A)(i)(I), by striking ``or
(viii)'' and inserting ``(viii), (ix), or (x)''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B), by adding at the end the
following:
``(ix) A final determination of a
binational panel convened pursuant to article
1904 of the NAFTA.
``(x) A final determination of an
investigating authority described in section
404A(a)(2) of the North American Free Trade
Agreement Implementation Act.'';
(2) in subsection (a)(5), in the matter preceding
subparagraph (A), by inserting ``(other than a determination
described in subsection (g)(3)(A)(vii))'' after ``apply''; and
(3) in subsection (g)(3)(A)--
(A) in clause (v), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(B) in clause (vi), by striking the period and
inserting ``, or''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(vii) a determination of which either a
par
452
ty or person within the meaning of paragraph
5 of article 1904 of the NAFTA has requested
review pursuant to section 404A of the North
American Free Trade Agreement Implementation
Act.''.
SEC. 4. APPLICATION TO CANADA AND MEXICO.
Pursuant to article 1902 of the North American Free Trade Agreement
and section 408 of the North American Free Trade Agreement
Implementation Act, the amendments made by this Act shall apply with
respect to goods from Canada and Mexico.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any final
determination of a binational panel convened pursuant to article 1904
of the North American Free Trade Agreement or to a final determination
of a competent investigating authority with respect to which section
404A(a)(2) of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation
Act applies, notice of which is published in the Federal Register on or
after the date of enactment of this Act.
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