H.R. 5620

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5620 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5620

To provide for the establishment of a task force to identify trade 
barriers to United States agricultural exports and carry out other 
related duties.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 30, 2025

Mr. Crawford (for himself, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, and Mr. Higgins of 
Louisiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To provide for the establishment of a task force to identify trade 
barriers to United States agricultural exports and carry out other 
related duties.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Prioritizing Offensive Agricultural 
Disputes and Enforcement Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:
(1) Agricultural competitiveness through access to 
international markets is a vital part of the United States 
economy.
(2) A healthy, well-functioning rules-based trading system 
is the basis for the success of United States agricultural 
exports.
(3) When foreign governments erect trade barriers this 
makes it difficult for United States agricultural exporters to 
compete in the global marketplace while undermining the rules-
based trading system.
(4) These trade barriers can harm United States farmers, 
ranchers, workers, and businesses, and they can also lead to 
higher prices for consumers and a less resilient international 
trading system.
(5) Dispute settlement is available through trade 
agreements with 165 other countries and there are protectionist 
trade barriers to United States agricultural exports in many of 
these countries.
(6) Many of these barriers are systemically important. For 
example, India's unrestrained use of price support programs 
violates its commitments under the World Trade Organization 
(WTO).
(7) India recognizes that its price support programs 
violate its WTO commitments, so instead of reforming its 
programs, it has repeatedly demanded a permanent exemption from 
disputes for these programs. Moreover, India has tried to 
prevent discussions at the WTO of any other significant 
agricultural trade issue unless it receives such a permanent 
exemption.
(8) The Government of India has repeatedly raised its 
minimum price supports, which has had negative effects on 
several commodity markets and most notably has led to its 
dominance of the global rice trade, with a 40-percent share of 
the global market since marketing year 2020 through 2021. India 
is also the world's largest producer of pulses and second 
largest producer of wheat, peanuts, and cotton.
(9) The United States Trade Representative has submitted 
several counter notifications at the World Trade Organization 
showing that price supports provided by the Government of India 
are well beyond the World Trade Organization limit for India of 
10 percent of the value of production. For example, the latest 
counter notification for rice shows support at 87.9 percent in 
marketing year 2022 through 2023 and for wheat at 67.5 percent 
for the same period. Other commodities also received support 
levels well beyond 10 percent commitment limits in previous 
counter notifications, including 67.9 percent for cotton, 31.7 
percent for chickpeas, 41 percent for lentils, and 47.4 percent 
for pulses.
(10) Minor attempts to reform the Indian agriculture 
subsidy system in the marketing year 2020/2021 failed to 
produce results. The enacted reforms would not have changed the 
policies that violate WTO commitments but would have merely 
provided farmers with opportunities to sell their products 
outside of the government-run ``mandi'' system, but those were 
ultimately repealed.
(11) Dispute settlement is an effective way to provide a 
neutral assessment of compliance with trade agreement terms and 
provide the United States a legal framework for enforcement 
mechanisms to facilitate fair and reciprocal trade.
(12) Global agriculture is uniquely susceptible to trade 
barriers and requires special attention to resolve myriad 
systemic and economically significant trade violations that 
impede the development of a resilient, sustainable, and rules-
based agricultural trading system.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the United States should accelerate efforts to address 
foreign trade barriers that harm United States agricultural 
exports;
(2) the Office of the United States Trade Representative 
and the Department of Agriculture both have a critical role in 
developing agricultural trade disputes;
(3) Congress and the private sector have key roles to play 
in the development of disputes and agricultural trade 
enforcement strategy;
(4) in the case of India's minimum price supports, the 
United States has exhausted other options available through the 
World Trade Organization short of requesting consultations 
under the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU);
(5) there should be a plan and definitive deadlines in 
place for a request for consultations and establishment of a 
panel under the DSU;
(6) the Office of the United States Trade Representative 
and the Department of Agriculture should jointly develop a 
proactive enforcement strategy for addressing systemic and 
economically significant trade barriers in the agriculture 
sector, in consultation with Congress and the private sector; 
and
(7) the Office of the United States Trade Representative is 
the lead agency for United States trade policy.

SEC. 4. AGRICULTURAL TRADE ENFORCEMENT TASK FORCE.

(a) Establishment.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the President shall establish a joint task force 
to be known as the ``Agricultural Trade Enforcement Task Force'' 
(referred to in this section as the ``Task Force'').
(b) Duties.--
(1) In general.--The Task Force shall--
(A) identify trade barriers to United States 
agricultural exports that are vulnerable to dispute 
settlement under the World Trade Organization (WTO) or 
other trade agreements;
(B) develop and implement a strategy for enforcing 
violations of trade agreements related to these trade 
barriers;
(C) identify like-minded trading partners for 
specific trade barriers that could act as co-
complainants or primary complainants on disputes that 
are systemically or economically important to the 
United States; and
(D) report quarterly to Congress on progress 
towards resolving cases or filing disputes.
(2) Consultation.--In carrying out its duties under this 
subsection, the Task Force shall regularly consult, to the 
extent necessary and appropriate, with the following:
(A) Relevant stakeholders in the private sector, 
including the agricultural trade advisory committees.
(B) Federal departments and agencies that are not 
represented on the Task Force.
(C) Like-minded trading partners that are similarly 
concerned with trade barriers and are potential 
participants in the dispute settlement process.
(c) Membership.--
(1) In general.--The Task Force shall be comprised of the 
following members:
(A) One or more employees of the Foreign 
Agricultural Service, who shall be appointed by the 
Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural 
Affairs.
(B) One or more employees of the Office of the 
United States Trade Representative, who shall be 
appointed jointly by the General Counsel for the Office 
of the United States Trade Representative and the Chief 
Agricultural Negotiator.
(C) One or more employees of other Federal agencies 
as needed, who shall be appointed jointly by the 
officials specified in subparagraphs (A) and (B).
(2) Qualification.--Employees of the Federal agencies 
specified in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (1) 
may be appointed as members of the Task Force only if such 
employees have appropriate expertise in agricultural trade 
policy and trade enforcement.
(d) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, and on a quarterly basis thereafter, 
the Task Force shall submit to Congress a report on its 
progress in identifying and addressing trade barriers to United 
States agricultural exports.
(2) Matters to be included.--The report required by this 
subsection shall include the following:
(A) A description of the systemic and economically 
significant trade barriers that have been identified.
(B) A justification for including the identified 
trade barriers.
(C) A description of the progress that has been 
made in developing dispute settlement cases and further 
information that is required.
(D) The current status of ongoing disputes at the 
WTO and implementation of panel, arbitration, or 
Appellate Body decisions.
(3) Additional matters to be included in initial report.--
The initial report required by this subsection shall, in 
addition to the matters described in subparagraphs (A), (B), 
(C), and (D) of paragraph (2), include a plan to file a request 
under the WTO dispute settlement process for consultations to 
address India's minimum price supports. The plan shall 
include--
(A) an identification of like-minded trading 
partners that could act as co-complainants or primary 
complainants with respect to the request;
(B) a description of specific claims the United 
States intends to make with respect to the request; and
(C) a timeline to--
(i) request consultations; and
(ii) request the establishment of a panel 
not later than 60 days after the date of the 
request for consultations if India does not 
provide assurances that it will address its 
minimum price supports.
(e) Congressional Briefings.--The United States Trade 
Representative and the Secretary of Agriculture shall provide briefings 
on the Task Force to appropriate Members of Congress and congressional 
staff.
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