Escape-clause procedure.

under section 350 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, shall be permitted to continue in effect when the product on which the concession has been granted is, as a result, in whole or in part, of the duty or other customs treatment reflecting such concession, being imported into the United States in such increased quantities, either actual or relative, as to cause or threaten serious injury to the domestic industry producing like or directly competitive products.

(b) The President, as soon as practicable, shall take such action as may be necessary to bring trade agreements heretofore entered into under section 350 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, into conformity with the policy established in subsection (a) of this section.

SEC. 7. (a) Upon the request of the President, upon resolution of either House of Congress, upon resolution of either the Committee on Finance of the Senate or the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, upon its own motion, or upon application of any interested party (including any organization or group of employees), the United States Tariff Commission shall promptly make an investigation and make a report thereon not later than six months after the application is made to determine whether any product upon which a concession has been granted under a trade agreement is, as a result, in whole or in part, of the duty or other customs treatment reflecting such concession, being imported into the United States in such increased quantities, either actual or relative, as to cause or threaten serious injury to the domestic industry producing like or directly competitive products.

In the course of any such investigation, whenever it finds evidence of serious injury or threat of serious injury or whenever so directed by resolution of either the Committee on Finance of the Senate or the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, the Tariff Commission shall hold hearings giving reasonable public notice thereof and shall afford reasonable opportunity for interested parties to be present, to produce evidence, and to be heard at such hearings.

Should the Tariff Commission find, as the result of its investigation and hearings, that a product on which a concession has been granted is, as a result, in whole or in part, of the duty or other customs treatment reflecting such concession, being imported in such increased quantities, either actual or relative, as to cause or threaten serious injury to the domestic industry producing like or directly competitive products, it shall recommend to the President the withdrawal or modification of the concession, its suspension in whole or in part, or the establishment of import quotas, to the extent and for the time necessary to prevent or remedy such injury. The Tariff Commission shall immediately make public its findings and recommendations to the President, including any dissenting or separate findings and recommendations, and shall cause a summary thereof to be published in the Federal Register.

(b) In arriving at a determination in the foregoing procedure the Tariff Commission, without excluding other factors, shall take into consideration a downward trend of production, employment, prices, profits, or wages in the domestic industry concerned, or a decline in sales, an increase in imports, either actual or relative to domestic production, a higher or growing inventory, or a decline in the proportion of the domestic market supplied by domestic producers.

Increased imports, either actual or relative, shall be considered as the cause or threat of serious injury to the domestic industry producing like

Congressional action if President disapproves Tariff Commission recommendation.

or directly competitive products when the Commission finds that such increased imports have contributed substantially towards causing or threatening serious injury to such industry.

(c) (1) Upon receipt of the Tariff Commission's report of its investigation and hearings, the President may make such adjustments in the rates of duty, impose such quotas, or make such other modifications as are found and reported by the Commission to be necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury to the respective domestic industry. If the President does not take such action within sixty days he shall immediately submit a report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House and to the Committee on Finance of the Senate stating why he has not made such adjustments or modifications, or imposed such quotas.

(2) The action so found and reported by the Commission to be necessary shall take effect (as provided in the first sentence of paragraph (1) or in paragraph (3), as the case may be)—

(A) if approved by the President, or

(B) if disapproved by the President in whole or in part, upon the adoption by both Houses of the Congress (within the 60-day period following the date on which the report referred to in the second sentence of paragraph (1) is submitted to such committees), by the yeas and nays by a two-thirds vote of each House, of a concurrent resolution stating in effect that the Senate and House of Representatives approve the action so found and reported by the Commission to be necessary.1

For the purposes of subparagraph (B), in the computation of the 60-day period there shall be excluded the days on which either House is not in session because of an adjournment of more than 3 days to a day certain or an adjournment of the Congress sine die.

(3) In any case in which the contingency set forth in paragraph (2)(B) occurs, the President shall (within 15 days after the adoption of such resolution) take such action as may be necessary to make the adjustments, impose the quotas, or make such other modifications as were found and reported by the Commission to be necessary.

(d) When in the judgment of the Tariff Commission no sufficient reason exists for a recommendation to the President that a concession should be withdrawn or modified or a quota established, it shall make and publish a report stating its findings and conclusions.

(e) As used in this Act, the terms "domestic industry producing like or directly competitive products" and "domestic industry producing like or directly competitive articles" mean that portion or subdivision of the producing organizations manufacturing, assembling, processing, extracting, growing, or otherwise producing like or directly competitive products or articles in commercial quantities. In applying the preceding sentence, the Commission shall (so far as practicable) distinguish or separate the operations of the producing organizations involving the like or directly competitive products or articles referred to in such sentence from the operations of such organizations involving other products or articles.

(f) In carrying out the provisions of this section the President may, notwithstanding section 350(a)(2) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended,

1 See appendix C for rules governing congressional consideration of concurrent resolutions to override Presidential disapprovals of Tariff Commission escape-clause recommendations.

Perishable

agricultural

commodities.Emergency escape-clause action.

Amendment of sec. 22 of AAA, as amended.

GATT not approved or disapproved.

Importation of certain furs prohibited.

impose a duty not in excess of 50 per centum ad valorem on any article not otherwise subject to duty.

SEC. 8. (a) In any case where the Secretary of Agriculture determines and reports to the President and to the Tariff Commission with regard to any agricultural commodity that due to the perishability of the commodity a condition exists requiring emergency treatment, the Tariff Commission shall make an immediate investigation *** under the provisions of section 7 of this Act to determine the facts and make recommendations to the President for such relief under those provisions as may be appropriate. The President may take immediate action however, without awaiting the recommendations of the Tariff Commission if in his judgment the emergency requires such action. In any case the report and findings of the Tariff Commission and the decision of the President shall be made at the earliest possible date and in any event not more than 25 calendar days after the submission of the case to the Tariff Commission.

(b) [This subsection amended sec. 22 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act.]

(c) [This subsection was added by sec. 104 of the Trade Agreements Extension Act of 1953, and amended sec. 22 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act.]

SEC. 9. (a) [This subsection amended sec. 2(a) of the Trade Agreements Act of June 12, 1934.]

(b) [This amendment repealed subsec. (c) of sec. 17 of the Customs Administrative Act of 1938, as amended.]

SEC. 10. The enactment of this Act shall not be construed to determine or indicate the approval or disapproval by the Congress of the Executive Agreement known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

SEC. 11. The President shall, as soon as practicable, take such measures as may be necessary to prevent the importation of ermine, fox, kolinsky, marten, mink, muskrat, and weasel furs and skins, dressed or undressed, which are the product of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or of Communist China.

Appendix C

Rules Governing Congressional Consideration of Concurrent Resolutions To Override Presidential Disapprovals of Tariff Commission Escape-Clause Recommendations

SEC. 7. (a) [of Trade Agreements Extension Act of 1958.] The following subsections of this section are enacted by the Congress:

(1) As an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, and as such they shall be considered as part of the rules of each House, respectively, but applicable only with respect to the procedure to be followed in such House in the case of resolutions (as defined in subsection (b)); and such rules shall supersede other rules only to the extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and

(2) With full recognition of the constitutional right of either House to change such rules (so far as relating to the procedure in such House) at any time, in the same manner and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of such House.

(b) As used in this section, the term "resolution" means only a concurrent resolution of the two Houses of Congress, the matter after the resolving clause of which is as follows: "That the Senate and House of Representatives approve the action

"(1) found and reported by the United States Tariff Commission to be necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury to the respective domestic industry, in its report to the President dated 19, on its escape-clause investigation numbered

under the provisions of section 7 of the Trade Agreements Extension Act of 1951, as amended (19 U.S.C., sec. 1364), and

"(2) disapproved by the President in whole or in part in his report (dated

19 ) pursuant to the second sentence of paragraph (1) of section 7(c) of such Act.”,

the blank spaces therein being appropriately filled; and does not include a concurrent resolution which specifies more than one such investigation.

(c) A resolution with respect to an investigation shall be referred to the Committee on Finance of the Senate or to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives by the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the case may be.

(d) (1) If the committee to which has been referred a resolution with respect to an investigation has not reported it before the expiration of ten calendar days after its introduction (or, in the case of a resolution received from the other House, ten calendar days after its receipt), it shall then (but not before) be in order to move either to discharge the committee from further consideration of such resolution, or to discharge the committee from further consideration of any other resolution with respect to such investigation which has been referred to the committee.

(2) Such motion may be made only by a person favoring the resolution, shall be highly privileged (except that it may not be made after the committee has reported a resolution with respect to the same investigation), and debate thereon shall be limited to not to exceed one hour, to be equally divided between those favoring and those opposing the resolu