{ "id": "RS22154", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RS22154", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 414544, "date": "2012-11-26", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T21:36:49.909686", "title": "World Trade Organization (WTO) Decisions and Their Effect in U.S. Law", "summary": "Congress has comprehensively dealt with the legal effect of World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements and dispute settlement results in the United States in the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), P.L. 103-465. The act provides that domestic law prevails over conflicting provisions of WTO agreements and prohibits private remedies based on alleged violations of these agreements. As a result, provisions of WTO agreements and WTO panel and Appellate Body reports adopted by the WTO Members that are in conflict with federal law do not have domestic legal effect unless and until Congress or the executive branch, as the case may be, takes action to modify or remove the conflicting statute, regulation, or regulatory action. Violative state laws may be withdrawn by the state or, in rare circumstances, invalidated through legal action by the federal government.\nThe URAA also contains requirements for agencies to follow where a change in a regulation or the issuance of a new agency determination in a trade remedy proceeding is needed to comply with a WTO decision and existing law may be sufficient to carry out the action.\nWhile the URAA prohibits private rights of action based on Uruguay Round agreements, plaintiffs, in cases brought under other statutes, have argued that the agency actions they are challenging in court are inconsistent with a WTO agreement or a WTO decision and should conform with U.S. WTO obligations. Although courts have deemed WTO decisions to be persuasive, they have also held that they are not binding on the United States, U.S. agencies, or the judiciary, leaving the issue of whether and how the United States complies in a particular WTO proceeding to the executive branch.\nLegislation introduced in recent Congresses generally reflected congressional concerns that the WTO Appellate Body had interpreted WTO agreements in an overly broad manner to the detriment of the United States and that the executive branch had in some cases too readily used existing statutory authorities to comply with these decisions, particularly where U.S. trade remedies were involved. Legislation particularly focused on WTO decisions in which the U.S. use of \u201czeroing\u201d in antidumping proceedings was successfully challenged.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RS22154", "sha1": "0ddd4cf7f7ddcdef467261a70d9bd3f0883afb51", "filename": "files/20121126_RS22154_0ddd4cf7f7ddcdef467261a70d9bd3f0883afb51.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RS22154", "sha1": "7889cc79686518fbbdc1bd04361dc3a556dc616a", "filename": "files/20121126_RS22154_7889cc79686518fbbdc1bd04361dc3a556dc616a.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 3919, "name": "International Law and U.S. Sovereignty" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc103239/", "id": "RS22154_2011Feb04", "date": "2011-02-04", "retrieved": "2012-09-19T20:16:14", "title": "World Trade Organization (WTO) Decisions and Their Effect in U.S. Law", "summary": "This report looks at specific laws that have been affected by interactions between the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, the WTO, and domestic law.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20110204_RS22154_89ee209a6c0d711512659bb3789127d7a49d9e18.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20110204_RS22154_89ee209a6c0d711512659bb3789127d7a49d9e18.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Trade", "name": "Trade" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Law", "name": "Law" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "International affairs", "name": "International affairs" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Trade agreements", "name": "Trade agreements" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Trade regulation", "name": "Trade regulation" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs10641/", "id": "RS22154_2008Jul28", "date": "2008-07-28", "retrieved": "2008-12-11T20:31:47", "title": "WTO Decisions and Their Effect in U.S. Law", "summary": "Congress has comprehensively dealt with the legal effect of World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements and dispute settlement results in the United States in the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), P.L. 103-465, which provides that domestic law prevails over conflicting provisions of WTO agreements and prohibits private remedies based on alleged violations of these agreements. This report analyzes the URAA in detail and outlines various WTO decisions and their effect on U.S. trade law and policy.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20080728_RS22154_99c63205d7b8a365522634365473dd92d760037d.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20080728_RS22154_99c63205d7b8a365522634365473dd92d760037d.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Trade", "name": "Trade" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Law", "name": "Law" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "International affairs", "name": "International affairs" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Trade agreements", "name": "Trade agreements" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Trade regulation", "name": "Trade regulation" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc809170/", "id": "RS22154_2008Jan02", "date": "2008-01-02", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "WTO Decisions and Their Effect in U.S. Law", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20080102_RS22154_3f8a15024123481ac20054e9c212738a0190c7ae.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20080102_RS22154_3f8a15024123481ac20054e9c212738a0190c7ae.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc810102/", "id": "RS22154_2007Apr23", "date": "2007-04-23", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "WTO Decisions and Their Effect in U.S. Law", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20070423_RS22154_1731218409672af7124112f1c0dcca7a11ed8257.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20070423_RS22154_1731218409672af7124112f1c0dcca7a11ed8257.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc810918/", "id": "RS22154_2007Feb09", "date": "2007-02-09", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "WTO Decisions and Their Effect in U.S. Law", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20070209_RS22154_288b565054632051880f363fdd38373e908cfa74.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20070209_RS22154_288b565054632051880f363fdd38373e908cfa74.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc812130/", "id": "RS22154_2007Jan30", "date": "2007-01-30", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "WTO Decisions and Their Effect in U.S. Law", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20070130_RS22154_8ddf9d759e0a338281f135e02a68b060a01b3bd5.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20070130_RS22154_8ddf9d759e0a338281f135e02a68b060a01b3bd5.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs7955/", "id": "RS22154 2005-05-24", "date": "2005-05-24", "retrieved": "2005-12-21T17:05:55", "title": "WTO Decisions and Their Effect on U.S. Law", "summary": "Congress has comprehensively dealt with the legal effect of World Trade\r\nOrganization (WTO) agreements and dispute settlement results in the United States in the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), P.L. 103-465, which provides that domestic law prevails over conflicting provisions of WTO agreements and prohibits private remedies based on alleged violations of these agreements. As a result, WTO agreements and adopted WTO rulings in conflict with federal law do not have domestic legal effect unless and until Congress or the Executive Branch, as the case may be, takes action to modify or remove the statute, regulation, or regulatory practice at issue. Violative state laws may be withdrawn by the state or, in rare circumstances, invalidated through legal action by the federal government. In addition, the URAA places requirements on federal regulatory action taken to implement WTO decisions and contains provisions specific to the implementation of dispute settlement panel and appellate reports that fault U.S. actions in trade remedy proceedings.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20050524_RS22154_1e6effa417c48b23e2e0c145c7389f94010533ad.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20050524_RS22154_1e6effa417c48b23e2e0c145c7389f94010533ad.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "International affairs", "name": "International affairs" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Law - U.S.", "name": "Law - U.S." }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "World Trade Organization", "name": "World Trade Organization" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Law", "name": "Law" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Foreign Affairs" ] }