,,ii #aahth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #biib ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,september #bh 7legislative day1 ,september #bb71 #bjbc,mr4 ,cassidy 7for himself1 ,mrs4 ,hyde-,smith1 ,ms4 ,ernst1 ,mr4 ,boozman1 ,mr4 ,wicker1 and ,mr4 ,tuberville7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,finance ,a ,,bill ,to require the establishment of a joint task force to identify and eliminate barriers to agriculture exports of the ,united ,states4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,prioritizing ,offensive ,agricultural ,disputes and ,enforcement ,act or the ,ag ,disputes ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,agricultural competitiveness through access to international markets is a vital part of the economy of the ,united ,states4 7#b7 ,a healthy1 well-functioning1 rules-based trading system is the basis for the success of agriculture exports of the ,united ,states4 7#c7 ,when foreign governments erect trade barriers1 that makes it difficult for agricultural exporters in the ,united ,states to compete in the global marketplace and undermines the rules-based trading system4 7#d7 ,those trade barriers can harm farmers1 ranchers1 workers1 and businesses in the ,united ,states and can also lead to higher prices for consumers and a less resilient international trading system4 7#e7 ,dispute settlement is available to the ,president through trade agreements with #afc countries1 and there are protectionist trade barriers to agriculture exports of the ,united ,states in many of those countries4 7#f7 ,many of those barriers are systemically important4 ,for example1 the use by the ,government of ,india of unrestrained price support programs violates the commitments by that government under the ,world ,trade ,organization4 7#g7 ,the ,government of ,india recognizes that its price support programs violate its commitments under the ,world ,trade ,organization1 so instead of reforming its programs1 it has repeatedly demanded an exemption from disputes for those programs4 ,moreover1 the ,government of ,india has tried to prevent discussions at the ,world ,trade ,organization of any other significant agricultural trade issue unless it gets a permanent exemption from disputes for those programs4 7#h7 ,the ,government of ,india has repeatedly raised its minimum price supports1 which has had negative effects on several commodity markets and most notably has led to its dominance of the global rice trade1 with a #dj-percent share of the global market since marketing year #bjbj through #bjba4 ,india is also the world's largest producer of pulses and second largest producer of wheat1 peanuts1 and cotton4 7#i7 ,the ,united ,states ,trade ,representative submitted a counter notification at the ,world ,trade ,organization in #bjbc showing that price supports by the ,government of ,india for rice increased from #gh4f percent of the value of production in marketing year #bjad through #bjae to #ic4i percent of the value of production in marketing year #bjbj through #bjba1 compared to the limit at the ,world ,trade ,organization on increased price supports of #aj percent of the value of production4 ,that counter notification also showed price supports by the ,government of ,india for wheat increasing from #gg4g percent to #ha4c percent during the same period4 ,previous counter notifications have shown similar violations by the ,government of ,india for other commodities4 ,for example1 in the marketing year #bjaf through #bjag1 price supports by the ,government of ,indian were #fg4i percent for cotton1 #ca4g percent for chickpeas1 #da percent for lentils1 and #dg4d percent for pulses overall4 7#aj7 ,minor attempts to reform the agriculture subsidy system in ,india in marketing year #bjbj through #bjba failed to produce results4 ,reforms enacted as a result of those attempts would not have changed the policies that violate commitments under the ,world ,trade ,organization1 but would have merely provided farmers in ,india with opportunities to sell their products outside of the government-run mandi system1 but those reforms were ultimately repealed4 7#aa7 ,dispute settlement is an effective way to provide a neutral assessment of compliance with terms of trade agreements and empower internal reformers who recognize a problem but have not been able to overcome entrenched resistance4 7#ab7 ,global agriculture is uniquely susceptible to trade barriers and requires special attention to resolve myriad systemic and economically significant trade violations that impede the development of a resilient1 sustainable1 and rules-based agricultural trading system4 #c4 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress that-- 7#a7 the ,president should accelerate efforts to address foreign trade barriers that harm agriculture exports of the ,united ,states2 7#b7 the ,united ,states ,trade ,representative and the ,secretary of ,agriculture both have a critical role in developing agricultural trade disputes2 7#c7 ,congress and the private sector have key roles to play in the development of disputes and agricultural trade enforcement strategy2 7#d7 in the case of price supports by the ,government of ,india1 the ,president has exhausted other options available through the ,world ,trade ,organization short of requesting consultations under the ,dispute ,settlement ,understanding of the ,world ,trade ,organization2 7#e7 there should be a plan and definitive deadlines in place for a request for consultations and establishment of a panel under the ,dispute ,settlement ,understanding2 7#f7 the ,united ,states ,trade ,representative and the ,secretary of ,agriculture1 in consultation with ,congress and the private sector1 should jointly develop a proactive enforcement strategy for addressing systemic and economically significant trade barriers in the agriculture sector2 and 7#g7 the ,office of the ,united ,states ,trade ,representative is the lead agency for trade policy of the ,united ,states4 #d4 ,agricultural ,trade ,enforcement ,task ,force 7a7 ,establishment ,not later than #cj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,president shall establish a joint task force to be known as the ,agricultural ,trade ,enforcement ,task ,force 7in this section referred to as the ,task ,force74 7b7 ,membership ,the ,task ,force shall be comprised of the following members3 7#a7 ,employees of the ,foreign ,agricultural ,service of the ,department of ,agriculture1 who shall be appointed by the ,under ,secretary of ,agriculture for ,trade and ,foreign ,agricultural ,affairs4 7#b7 ,employees of the ,office of the ,united ,states ,trade ,representative1 who shall-- 7,a7 be appointed by the ,general ,counsel and the ,chief ,agricultural ,negotiator2 and 7,b7 have appropriate expertise in agricultural trade policy and trade enforcement4 7#c7 ,employees from other ,federal agencies as determined by the ,united ,states ,trade ,representative or the ,secretary of ,agriculture4 7c7 ,duties 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,task ,force shall-- 7,a7 identify trade barriers to agriculture exports of the ,united ,states that are vulnerable to dispute settlement under the ,world ,trade ,organization or other trade agreements to which the ,united ,states is a party2 7,b7 develop and implement a strategy for enforcing violations of trade agreements related to those trade barriers2 7,c7 identify like-minded trading partners that could act as co-complainants or primary complainants on disputes relating to specific trade barriers that are systemically or economically important to the ,united ,states2 and 7,d7 report to ,congress pursuant to subsection 7d74 7#b7 ,consultation ,in carrying out the duties under paragraph 7#a71 the ,task ,force shall regularly consult1 to the extent necessary and appropriate1 with the following3 7,a7 ,relevant stakeholders in the private sector1 including the agricultural trade advisory committees4 7,b7 ,federal agencies that are not represented on the ,task ,force4 7,c7 ,like-minded trading partners that are similarly concerned with trade barriers and are potential participants in a dispute settlement process4 7d7 ,reports 7#a7 ,in general ,not later than #ij days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 and not less frequently than quarterly thereafter1 the ,task ,force shall submit to ,congress a report on the progress of the ,task ,force in identifying and addressing trade barriers to agriculture exports of the ,united ,states4 7#b7 ,elements ,each report submitted under paragraph 7#a7 shall include the following3 7,a7 ,the systemic and economically significant trade barriers that have been identified by the ,task ,force4 7,b7 ,a justification for including those trade barriers in the report4 7,c7 ,the progress that has been made in developing dispute settlement cases and an assessment of whether further information is required4 7,d7 ,the current status of ongoing disputes and the implementation of panel decisions1 arbitration decisions1 or decisions by the ,appellate ,body of the ,world ,trade ,organization4 7#c7 ,confidential information 7,a7 ,in general ,the ,task ,force shall remove from each report submitted under paragraph 7#a7 any information determined by the ,task ,force to be confidential4 7,b7 ,briefing ,for each report required to be submitted under paragraph 7#a71 the ,united ,states ,trade ,representative and the ,secretary of ,agriculture shall provide to members of ,congress1 congressional staff1 and cleared advisors a briefing on the information determined by the ,task ,force to be confidential and removed from the report pursuant to subparagraph 7,a74 7e7 ,consultations with ,india 7#a7 ,in general ,the ,task ,force shall include as part of the first report required under subsection 7d77#a7 a plan for filing a request for consultations under the ,world ,trade ,organization with respect to the price supports implemented by the ,government of ,india with respect to agricultural products1 which shall include other members of the ,world ,trade ,organization that have been identified and approached as potential co-complainants4 7#b7 ,elements ,the plan required under paragraph 7#a7 shall include-- 7,a7 specific claims that the ,united ,states ,trade ,representative intends to make during the consultations requested pursuant to the plan2 and 7,b7 a timeline for-- 7i7 requesting those consultations2 and 7ii7 requesting the establishment of a panel under the ,world ,trade ,organization in the event that the ,government of ,india fails to provide a satisfactory path to compliance by the date that is #fj days after the date of receipt of the request for consultations4