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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 3801. Short title and findings
(a) Short title
This chapter may be cited as the "Bipartisan Trade Promotion
Authority Act of 2002".
(b) Findings
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The expansion of international trade is vital to the
national security of the United States. Trade is critical to the
economic growth and strength of the United States and to its
leadership in the world. Stable trading relationships promote
security and prosperity. Trade agreements today serve the same
purposes that security pacts played during the Cold War, binding
nations together through a series of mutual rights and
obligations. Leadership by the United States in international
trade fosters open markets, democracy, and peace throughout the
world.
(2) The national security of the United States depends on its
economic security, which in turn is founded upon a vibrant and
growing industrial base. Trade expansion has been the engine of
economic growth. Trade agreements maximize opportunities for the
critical sectors and building blocks of the economy of the United
States, such as information technology, telecommunications and
other leading technologies, basic industries, capital equipment,
medical equipment, services, agriculture, environmental
technology, and intellectual property. Trade will create new
opportunities for the United States and preserve the unparalleled
strength of the United States in economic, political, and
military affairs. The United States, secured by expanding trade
and economic opportunities, will meet the challenges of the
twenty-first century.
(3) Support for continued trade expansion requires that dispute
settlement procedures under international trade agreements not
add to or diminish the rights and obligations provided in such
agreements. Therefore -
(A) the recent pattern of decisions by dispute settlement
panels of the WTO and the Appellate Body to impose obligations
and restrictions on the use of antidumping, countervailing, and
safeguard measures by WTO members under the Antidumping
Agreement, the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing
Measures, and the Agreement on Safeguards has raised concerns;
and
(B) the Congress is concerned that dispute settlement panels
of the WTO and the Appellate Body appropriately apply the
standard of review contained in Article 17.6 of the Antidumping
Agreement, to provide deference to a permissible interpretation
by a WTO member of provisions of that Agreement, and to the
evaluation by a WTO member of the facts where that evaluation
is unbiased and objective and the establishment of the facts is
proper.
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