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S 646 105th Congress Senate

Customs Enforcement and Market Access Act of 1997

Official title: A bill to ensure the competitiveness of the United States textile and apparel industry.

Introduced: April 24, 1997 See on congress.gov
Foreign Trade and International Finance AfricaAfrica (Sub-Saharan)Caribbean areaCentral America
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Clothing industryCommerceCongressCongressional reporting requirementsCopyright infringementCost of living adjustmentsCounterfeitingCrime and Law EnforcementCriminal investigationCustoms administrationDepartment of the TreasuryEast AsiaEconomic impact statementsEconomics and Public FinanceEvidence (Law)
This bill died when the 105th Congress ended
It never became law before the 105th Congress (1997–1998) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Apr 24, 1997
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Apr 24, 1997
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action April 24, 1997

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Customs Enforcement and Market Access Act of 1997 - Directs the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), whenever the United States negotiates a protocol for accession of a country to the World Trade Organization (WTO), to negotiate for inclusion in that protocol: (1) provisions for effective market access to that country's domestic markets for U.S. textile and apparel products; and (2) provisions allowing the suspension or revocation of paragraph 14 (relating to increasing import levels based on growth rates) of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, if the country has failed to enforce such market access provisions. Requires negotiation of bilateral agreements containing similar provisions with countries that are not WTO members.

(Sec. 3) Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to direct the USTR to identify annually, report to the Congress, and publish in the Federal Register the names of priority foreign countries that deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons producing or selling textile or apparel products.

(Sec. 4) Establishes in the Treasury a Textile Global Competitiveness Research Fund, consisting in part of fines levied under this Act, and whose amounts shall be available: (1) for programs aimed at enhancing the international competitiveness of U.S. textile and apparel manufacturers; and (2) to the Customs Service for the enforcement of laws governing trade in textile and apparel goods.

(Sec. 5) Directs the USTR to take necessary steps to negotiate a quota agreement with any non-WTO country whose exports to the United States exceed $100 million annually, or are creating serious damage or the actual threat of it to the U.S. textile and apparel industry.

States the sense of the Congress that any agreement negotiated with a non-WTO country which already has a textile agreement with the United States should permit imports of textile and apparel products of that country, during each 12-month period, to increase by not more than the percentage of growth in the U.S domestic market for all textile and apparel products in the preceding 12-month period.

Specifies provisions for inclusion in the accession protocol of countries acceding to the WTO.

(Sec. 6) Requires the USTR to ensure that any protocol under negotiation for accession to the WTO of a non-WTO country with a textile import bilateral agreement with the United States, as well as any subsequent agreement, provides for a reduction in the quantity of that country's textile and apparel goods that may be imported into the United States if the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements determines that the bilateral agreement is being circumvented and that inadequate or no measures are being taken by that country to take action against such circumvention.

(Sec. 7) Prescribes specified Customs Service enforcement actions and penalties (including fines, seizure, and forfeiture) for violations of customs laws involving textile and apparel goods.

(Sec. 10) Directs the Commissioner of Customs to establish a Division on Textile Enforcement.

(Sec. 11) Requires withdrawal of preferential tariff or quota treatment (unilateral trade concessions) from the textile and apparel goods of any country: (1) demonstrating a consistent pattern of circumventing textile agreements with United States; (2) refusing to cooperate in investigations; or (3) failing to provide fair and equitable market access for U.S. textile and apparel goods.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 646: Customs Enforcement and Market Access Act of 1997. 105th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/105-S-646/
MLA
"S. 646: Customs Enforcement and Market Access Act of 1997." 105th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/105-S-646/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 646, 105th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/105-S-646/.
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[S. 646: Customs Enforcement and Market Access Act of 1997](https://openamerica.io/bill/105-S-646/)
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