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H.R. 4180, To allow United States citizens to bring civil actions against persons who fail to perform an act or duty under the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act

  • This item is from the 110th Congress (2007-2008) and is no longer current. Comments, voting, and wiki editing have been disabled, and the cost/savings estimate has been frozen.

Version saved on December 17, 2008, 07:48:26, by webmaster:

H.R. 4180 would allow United States citizens to bring civil actions against persons who fail to perform an act or duty under the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act.

Detailed Summary

Amends the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act to allow a U.S. citizen to commence a civil action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against any person (including the United States or any other governmental instrumentality or agency to the extent permitted by the 11th amendment to the Constitution) who is alleged to have knowingly failed to perform an act or duty under the Agreement. (Currently, only the United States can bring actions with respect to the Agreement.)

Status of the Legislation

Latest Major Action: 11/19/2007: Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.

Points in Favor

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Points Against

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Robert C. Brown

December 5, 2007, 12:37pm (report abuse)

This bill is a serious attempt to further encroach on Peru's sovereignty. If enacted, a U.S. citizen (or corporation) would be able to sure Peru or any Peruvian citizen or entity for violating the "Free Trade" Agreement. This means, if the Peruvian government decides to uphold national environmental standards or set a minimum wage, they could be sued under U.S. law (NOT international or Peruvian law!). We saw a similar case to this hypothetical one in Costa Rica a few years back when Harken, a Texas based oil company, attempted to sue the Costa Rican government for upholding environmental standards in regards to oil speculation and extraction for more then their yearly G.D.P. If CAFTA (similar to the Peru Free Trade Agreement) had been in effect in Costa Rica, as it is now, this lawsuit very well could have been won.

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