PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Mar 12, 2015
Level Playing Field in Trade Agreements Act of 2015
No trade agreement with a country, or implementing bill for one, may receive expedited consideration by Congress under any provision of law, including any limitation on amendments or debate in either the Senate (except under rule XXII of the Standing Rules) or the House of Representatives unless the agreement:
includes binding and enforceable requirements that all producers of merchandise exported to the United States from that country pay adequate wages and maintain sustainable production methods; and
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
provides that, for purposes of such merchandise, the application of antidumping duty laws under the Tariff Act of 1930 shall be modified according to this Act.
The administering authority, in determining the normal price of covered merchandise and whether it is or is likely to be sold at less than fair value, must increase the price by the difference, if any, between the actual cost of producing the merchandise and the estimated cost of producing it if the producer paid its employees adequate wages and maintained sustainable production methods.
Certain interested parties that petition for an antidumping proceeding with respect to covered merchandise relying on calculations of normal value under this Act shall be presumed to demonstrate that they are materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of imports of the covered merchandise unless:
the country from which the covered merchandise is exported is covered by a precertification, or
the estimated cost of producing the covered merchandise is equal to or greater than the cost of producing it in the country in which the interested party is located.
The administering authority shall issue a precertification with respect to wages, production methods, or both, for merchandise of a requesting exporter or producer that demonstrates to the administering authority's satisfaction that all such merchandise, including significant components or ingredients, was or will be produced under conditions under which all employees receive adequate wages or sustainable production methods are maintained.
The administering authority shall also issue a precertification for all merchandise imported from a country if that country's government maintains and enforces laws requiring all producers of such merchandise in that country to pay its employees adequate wages and to maintain sustainable production methods.
The administering authority, the Secretary of Labor, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency may jointly establish procedures pursuant to which obtaining certification from an independent third-party standards-setting organization may demonstrate eligibility for a precertification.
People & committees
Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] · D–OR
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 12, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.735 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.735 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.735 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.735 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.