Congress: 104 · 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 1193.
Sponsor: Schumer, Charles E. (D-New York)
Procompetitiveness and Antiboycott Act of 1995 - 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. (Sec. 4) Requires the United States Trade Representative to enter into discussions with representatives from member and prospective member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and to report to the Congress on the extent to which: (1) the secondary boycott of Israel has distorted trade; (2) members and prospective members of the WTO encourage actions, including the furnishing of information or entering into agreements, which support the boycott; (3) the WTO should work to eliminate the secondary boycott; and (4) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) articles can be used to eliminate compliance with such boycott. (Sec. 5) Requires the President to report to the Congress on progress made to end the boycott. (Sec. 6) Requires the Secretary of Commerce to report to the Congress on OECD countries that encourage or fail to discourage compliance with such boycott. (Sec. 7) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Office of Antiboycott Compliance of the Department of Commerce should continue exercising its functions for at least two years after the Arab League renounces: (1) the boycott of Israel by Arab countries; (2) the secondary boycott; and (3) any requirement that a business enterprise comply with such boycott.
This bill directs the U.S. Ambassador to the OECD and the U.S. Trade Representative to investigate and report to Congress on compliance with the Arab boycott of Israel, the effectiveness of antiboycott laws, and how the secondary boycott affects global trade. It requires the President and Commerce Secretary to report on progress toward ending the boycott and to identify OECD countries that encourage boycott compliance. The bill also expresses the sense that the Commerce Department's antiboycott office should continue operations.
The bill uses U.S. diplomatic and trade machinery to oppose Arab-country boycotts of Israel and to pressure other nations to adopt antiboycott standards. It represents legislative commitment to treating the Arab boycott as a trade distortion problem requiring multilateral pressure, making Israel's economic isolation a formal U.S. policy concern at the OECD and WTO.