Bill Summary
The "American Agriculture First Act" is a bill that aims to prioritize the purchase of agricultural commodities from domestically owned enterprises. This means that the government will prioritize buying these goods from American businesses rather than foreign businesses. This bill also requires the Secretary of Agriculture to submit a report to Congress explaining why they were unable to meet this requirement, and it must be consistent with World Trade Organization obligations. The bill will expire on September 30, 2023. Key terms in this legislation include "agricultural commodities" which refers to products from farming and agriculture, "domestically owned enterprise" which means businesses owned and operated within the United States, and "appropriate committees" which are the specific committees in Congress that will receive the reports and oversee the implementation of this legislation.
Possible Impacts
1. Small business farmers who do not qualify as domestically owned enterprises may have a harder time competing for government contracts to supply agricultural commodities, potentially limiting their income and growth opportunities.
2. Consumers may see an increase in prices for certain agricultural products as the government prioritizes purchases from domestically owned enterprises, leading to higher food costs.
3. Foreign-owned agricultural enterprises may be negatively impacted by this legislation, potentially leading to strained trade relationships and retaliatory actions from other countries.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2362 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2362
To prioritize the purchase of agricultural commodities from
domestically owned enterprises, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 25, 2019
Mr. Meadows introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prioritize the purchase of agricultural commodities from
domestically owned enterprises, and for other purposes.
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 ``American Agriculture First Act''.
SEC. 2. AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES PURCHASED FROM DOMESTICALLY OWNED
ENTERPRISES.
(a) Prioritization.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), if
the Secretary of Agriculture determines that response to trade
damage from retaliation by foreign nations with respect to
agricultural commodities is necessary, the Secretary shall,
acting through the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing
Service, purchase at least 75 percent of the agricultural
commodities of the Food Purchase and Distribution Program from
domestically owned enterprises.
(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the
purchases of agricultural commodities made 30 days after the
date on which the Secretary of Agriculture submits to the
Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the
Senate a report that explains why meeting the requirements
under paragraph (1)--
(A) is not possible because agricultural
commodities available from domestically owned
enterprises cannot meet the supply needs of the
Agricultural Marketing Service; or
(B) would result in a greater than 150 percent
increase between--
(i) the amount necessary to purchase such
agricultural commodities; and
(ii) the average cost of such agricultural
commodities purchased by the Agricultural
Marketing Service in the prior 3 years.
(3) Publication of awards.--In publishing the awards made
to vendors under the purchase programs under the Agricultural
Marketing Service, the Secretary of Agriculture shall include
whether the entity receiving such an award is a domestically
owned enterprise.
(4) WTO obligations.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall
carry out this section consistent with World Trade Organization
obligations of the United States.
(b) Report Required.--For each 90-day period in which the Secretary
of Agriculture purchases agricultural commodities pursuant to
subsection (a), the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the
appropriate committees a report that includes the amount of each such
agricultural commodity purchased.
(c) Sunset.--The authority under this section shall expire on
September 30, 2023.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Agricultural commodity.--The term ``agricultural
commodity'' has the meaning given the term under section 102(1)
of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5602(1)).
(2) Appropriate committees.--The term ``appropriate
committees'' means the Committee on Agriculture of the House of
Representatives, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House
of Representatives, the Committee on Ways and Means of the
House of Representatives, the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Senate, and the Committee on Finance of the
Senate.
(3) Domestically owned enterprise.--The term ``domestically
owned enterprise'' shall have the meaning given the term under
section 773.2 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (as in
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act).
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