Executive Order 12901—Identification of Trade Expansion Priorities

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 141 and 301–310 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the "Act") (19 U.S.C. 2171, 2411–2420), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and to ensure that the trade policies of the United States advance, to the greatest extent possible, the export of the products and services of the United States and that trade policy resources are used efficiently, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Identification. (a) Within 6 months of the submission of the National Trade Estimate Report (required by section 181(b) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 2241)) for 1994 and 1995, the United States Trade Representative ("Trade Representative") shall review United States trade expansion priorities and identify priority foreign country practices, the elimination of which is likely to have the most significant potential to increase United States exports, either directly or through the establishment of a beneficial precedent. The Trade Representative shall submit to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, and shall publish in the Federal Register, a report on the priority foreign country practices identified. (b) In identifying priority foreign country practices under paragraph (a) of this section, the Trade Representative shall take into account all relevant factors, including: (1) the major barriers and trade distorting practices described in the National Trade Estimate Report; (2) the trade agreements to which a foreign country is a party and its compliance with those agreements; (3) the medium-term and long-term implications of foreign government procurement plans; and (4) the international competitive position and export potential of United States products and services. (c) The Trade Representative may include in the report, if appropriate, a description of the foreign country practices that may in the future warrant identification as priority foreign country practices. The Trade Representative also may include a statement about other foreign country practices that were not identified because they are already being addressed by provisions of United States trade law, existing bilateral trade agreements, or in trade negotiations with other countries and progress is being made toward their elimination. Sec. 2. Initiation of Investigation. Within 21 days of the submission of the report required by paragraph (a) of section 1, the Trade Representative shall initiate under section 302(b)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 2412(b)(1)) investigations under title III, chapter 1, of the Act with respect to all of the priority foreign country practices identified. Sec. 3. Agreements for the Elimination of Barriers. In the consultations with a foreign country that the Trade Representative is required to request under section 303(a) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 2413(a)) with respect to an investigation initiated by reason of section 2 of this order, the Trade Representative shall seek to negotiate an agreement that provides for the elimination of the practices that are the subject of the investigation as quickly as possible or, if that is not feasible, provides for compensatory trade benefits. The Trade Representative shall monitor any agreement entered into under this section pursuant to the provisions of section 306 of the Act (19 U.S.C. 2416). Sec. 4. Reports. The Trade Representative shall include in the semiannual report required by section 309 of the Act (19 U.S.C. 2419) a report on the status of any investigation initiated pursuant to section 2 of this order and, where appropriate, the extent to which such investigations have led to increased opportunities for the export of products and services of the United States. Sec. 5. Presidential Direction. The authorities delegated pursuant to this order shall be exercised subject to any subsequent direction by the President in a particular matter. William J. Clinton The White House, March 3, 1994. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 1:24 p.m., March 4, 1994]