Bill Text: IL HR0011 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Enrolled
Bill Title: Asks Congress to pass Trade Promotion Authority and urges the United States Trade Representative to conclude the negotiations and recommend ratification of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership also known as T-TIP.
Sponsorship: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2015-05-13 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Jeanne M Ives [HR0011 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2015-HR0011-Enrolled.html
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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION 11
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| 2 | WHEREAS, For almost 40 years, the United States Congress | ||||||
| 3 | has pursued expansion of trade opportunities with other | ||||||
| 4 | countries through free trade agreements that eliminate | ||||||
| 5 | barriers, create transparency, and set rules to ensure fair | ||||||
| 6 | trading terms for the United States; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, As of January 1, 2014, the United States has 14 | ||||||
| 8 | free trade agreements with 20 partner countries, including: | ||||||
| 9 | Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Dominican | ||||||
| 10 | Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Israel, | ||||||
| 11 | Jordan, Korea, Morocco, Canada, Mexico, Oman, Panama, Peru, and | ||||||
| 12 | Singapore; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, In 2012, the United States' current free trade | ||||||
| 14 | agreements supported nearly 46% of the country's merchandise | ||||||
| 15 | exports, totaling approximately $718 billion; and
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| 16 | WHEREAS, In July of 2013, the United States began | ||||||
| 17 | negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment | ||||||
| 18 | Partnership (T-TIP) free trade agreement with the European | ||||||
| 19 | Union; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, The European Union was the United States' largest | ||||||
| 21 | export market in 2012 and has 28 member countries, including | ||||||
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| 1 | Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, | ||||||
| 2 | Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, | ||||||
| 3 | Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, | ||||||
| 4 | Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, | ||||||
| 5 | Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, In 2011, the United States and the European Union | ||||||
| 7 | maintained approximately $3.7 trillion in investment in each | ||||||
| 8 | other's economies; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, The United States and the European Union together | ||||||
| 10 | generate approximately half of the world's gross domestic | ||||||
| 11 | product output; and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, The goals of the T-TIP agreement include a plan to | ||||||
| 13 | expand the European markets for trade with the United States, | ||||||
| 14 | thereby strengthening the world's largest investment | ||||||
| 15 | relationship; and
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| 16 | WHEREAS, In 2013, the United States' current free trade | ||||||
| 17 | agreements benefited the State of Illinois by accounting for | ||||||
| 18 | nearly 54% of goods exported from the State, totaling | ||||||
| 19 | approximately $35.7 billion; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, Illinois' largest merchandise export categories | ||||||
| 21 | are machinery, transportation equipment, chemicals, computer | ||||||
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| 1 | and electronic products, and petroleum and coal products; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Illinois' top industrial goods exported to the | ||||||
| 3 | European Union include machinery products with an approximate | ||||||
| 4 | tariff rate of 9.7%, chemicals with an approximate tariff rate | ||||||
| 5 | of 6.5%, and automotive products with an approximate tariff | ||||||
| 6 | rate of 22%; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, The elimination of tariffs through T-TIP will | ||||||
| 8 | allow Illinois to gain greater market access for all goods | ||||||
| 9 | exported to the European Union and its trade partners by | ||||||
| 10 | enhancing the State's competitiveness in the global | ||||||
| 11 | marketplace; and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, Any "Fast Track" or Trade Promotion Authority | ||||||
| 13 | legislation filed before Congress must have greater openness, | ||||||
| 14 | robust opportunities for citizen and Congressional | ||||||
| 15 | participation in trade negotiations, and clear accountability | ||||||
| 16 | mechanisms to ensure the executive branch brings back trade | ||||||
| 17 | deals that will have a positive impact on the United States | ||||||
| 18 | trade balance by creating good, family-wage jobs, promoting | ||||||
| 19 | transparency in maintaining health, safety, and environmental | ||||||
| 20 | protections, addressing localized discriminatory practices, | ||||||
| 21 | and ensuring that state and local governments can continue to | ||||||
| 22 | legislate and regulate in the public interest; therefore, be it
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| 1 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 2 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 3 | urge Congress to use its authority under Article I, Section 8 | ||||||
| 4 | of the United States Constitution, to "regulate Commerce with | ||||||
| 5 | foreign Nations" if any "Fast Track" or "Trade Promotion | ||||||
| 6 | Authority" legislation fails to meet the aforementioned | ||||||
| 7 | requirements; and be it further
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| 8 | RESOLVED, That we urge the United States Trade | ||||||
| 9 | Representative to negotiate the Transatlantic Trade and | ||||||
| 10 | Investment Partnership (T-TIP) in a fair and transparent way | ||||||
| 11 | that will have a positive impact on the United States trade | ||||||
| 12 | balance; and be it further
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| 13 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 14 | presented to the President of the United States, the United | ||||||
| 15 | States Trade Representative, the United States Senate Majority | ||||||
| 16 | Leader, and the United States Senate Minority Leader.
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