Congress: 103 · Status: active · Israel/Palestine classification: pro-Israel
Data (JSON) — machine-readable record of this bill (identifiers, sponsor, classification, actions, and the member-by-member vote breakdown).
Official record on Congress.gov — full text, actions, and cosponsor history for HR 346.
Sponsor: Schumer, Charles E. (D-New York)
Procompetitiveness and Antiboycott Act of 1993 - Directs the U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to discuss with representatives from other OECD member countries and to report to the Congress on: (1) the extent to which business enterprises comply with the boycott of Israel by Arab countries; (2) the effectiveness, with respect to the secondary boycott, of antiboycott laws of countries that have them; (3) the extent to which the secondary boycott has skewed trade and investment globally as well as in the Middle East; (4) the extent to which business enterprises not complying with the boycott are placed at a competitive disadvantage; (5) the extent to which the secondary boycott contradicts OECD trade and investment policy; and (6) the development of guidelines, comparable to the prohibitions set forth under the Export Administration Act of 1979, that OECD countries can agree on to eliminate compliance with the boycott. Requires the United States Trade Representative to enter into discussions with representatives from member countries of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and to report to the Congress on the extent to which: (1) the secondary boycott of Israel has distorted trade; (2) members of and observers to the GATT encourage actions, including the furnishing of information or entering into agreements, which support the boycott; (3) the GATT should work to eliminate the secondary boycott; and (4) GATT articles can be used to eliminate compliance with such boycott. Requires the President to report to the Congress on progress made to end the boycott. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to report to the Congress on OECD countries that encourage or fail to discourage compliance with such boycott.
Directs the U.S. Ambassador to the OECD and the U.S. Trade Representative to GATT to investigate Arab boycotts of Israel, document how much businesses comply with the boycott, assess trade distortions, and develop international guidelines to eliminate boycott participation. Requires the President and Commerce Secretary to report back to Congress on countries encouraging boycott compliance and progress toward ending the boycott.
The bill operationalizes U.S. diplomatic and trade machinery to combat the Arab secondary boycott of Israel through international forums, framing boycott participation as a trade policy violation rather than political expression. Success would pressure trading partners to adopt antiboycott laws and shift GATT/OECD rules to restrict boycott-supporting actions.