China COVID–19 Restitution Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4080 To impose additional duties on imports of goods from the People’s Republic of China until China provides full compensation and reimbursement relat- ing to the COVID–19 pandemic to the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 23, 2021 Mr. BROOKS (for himself, Mr. DESJARLAIS, and Mr. CAWTHORN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To impose additional duties on imports of goods from the People’s Republic of China until China provides full com- pensation and reimbursement relating to the COVID– 19 pandemic to the United States, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘China COVID–19 Res- 4 titution Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4080.IH H4080 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4080 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 2 (1) In April 2012, six miners assigned to clear 3 bat guano from the Mojiang coal mine in Mojiang, 4 Yunnan, China fell ill and 3 of them died. A team 5 of scientists from the Wuhan Institute of Virology 6 were called in to take samples of bats and found 7 multiple new coronaviruses. 8 (2) Scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virol- 9 ogy did not announce the existence of the new 10 coronaviruses nor their connections to the coal mine 11 and the miners that became ill until 2021. 12 (3) Dr. Shi Zhengli, lead scientist at Wuhan In- 13 stitute of Virology, described experiments to World 14 Health Organization (WHO) scientists that could be 15 described as gain of function research. These experi- 16 ments included manipulating certain spike proteins 17 from coronaviruses found in bats and making them 18 capable of infecting human cells. 19 (4) The Wuhan Institute of Virology has been 20 conducting experiments on a coronavirus identified 21 as RaTG13, which was among the viruses found in 22 the Mojiang mineshaft. 23 (5) The Wuhan Institute of Virology has identi- 24 fied RaTG13 to be the most similar to SARS–CoV– 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4080.IH H4080 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4080 IH 2, the virus that causes COVID–19 with a 96.2 per- 1 cent similarity. 2 (6) In November 2019 three scientists at the 3 Wuhan Institute of Virology became ill ‘‘with symp- 4 toms consistent with both COVID–19 and common 5 seasonal illness’’. All 3 scientists sought treatment 6 at a hospital. 7 (7) A lab leak would not be unprecedented in 8 China. In 2004, a SARS outbreak stemming from 2 9 scientists at the Chinese Institute of Virology in Bei- 10 jing infected 9 people and killed one. 11 (8) China refused to allow scientists to inves- 12 tigate the potential origins of COVID–19 until Jan- 13 uary 2021, more than a year after COVID–19 began 14 its spread. 15 (9) China only agreed to a WHO investigation 16 if it had veto power over the scientists chosen for the 17 trip and privilege to review and edit the final report 18 before release. Thirty to sixty members of the Chi- 19 nese participants were not scientists. 20 (10) China would not allow the international 21 team access to blood bank samples, raw data of any 22 kind, lab logs, lab biosafety requirements, or to 23 interview staff members. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4080.IH H4080 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4080 IH (11) The WHO team was required to remain 1 separate from Chinese scientists unless in approved 2 settings and were allowed only 3 hours inside the 3 Wuhan lab under strict conditions. 4 (12) Chinese scientists examined the medical 5 records of 76,000 people in a province of nearly 60 6 million people. Of that 76,000, only 92 were chosen 7 to be tested for COVID–19 antibodies long after 8 they could have faded and without any explanation 9 to the WHO team of the criterion in which they 10 were chosen. 11 (13) The COVID–19 pandemic, whether natu- 12 rally occurring or not, was made worse due to the 13 lies and misinformation promulgated by the Chinese 14 Communist Party (CCP). 15 (14) On January 3, 2020, China’s National 16 Health Commission ordered medical institutions and 17 labs not to publish any information about the new 18 virus without specific government approval. The no- 19 tice also ordered labs to destroy their samples or 20 send them to other designated institutions. 21 (15) Even after the CCP knowingly delayed no- 22 tifying the world of the COVID–19 virus and did not 23 share the genome sequence until January 11, 2020, 24 the WHO repeatedly defended them. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4080.IH H4080 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4080 IH (16) For weeks after various physicians in 1 Wuhan warned of the possibility of human-to-human 2 transmission, China refused to admit any such cases 3 existed, as reported by the BBC. 4 (17) Dr. Li Wenliang and eight other doctors 5 warned of the dangers of the new virus in December 6 2019. 7 (18) In January 2020, the doctors were sum- 8 moned by the Public Security Bureau and silenced. 9 (19) On January 14, 2020, the WHO tweeted 10 ‘‘preliminary investigations conducted by China have 11 found no clear evidence of human-to-human trans- 12 mission’’. 13 (20) On January 30, 2020, the WHO finally 14 declares the outbreak to be a global health emer- 15 gency. 16 (21) On February 24, 2020, following a 9-day 17 field excursion in China, a joint team of CCP and 18 WHO scientists held a news conference in which the 19 WHO stated China’s actions slowed the spread of 20 the epidemic and prevented or delayed thousands of 21 cases. 22 (22) On February 28, 2020, the joint team 23 praised China for the ‘‘remarkable speed’’ of their 24 response in isolating the virus. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4080.IH H4080 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4080 IH (23) Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the 1 WHO’s director-general, visited China and praised 2 the country’s leadership for ‘‘setting a new standard 3 for outbreak response’’. Another month and a half 4 went by before the WHO called COVID–19 a pan- 5 demic, at which point the virus had killed more than 6 4,000 people and had infected 118,000 people across 7 nearly every continent. 8 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 9 gress that the People’s Republic of China and the CCP 10 are fully responsible and liable for all deaths, injuries, and 11 financial losses suffered in the United States by reason 12 of the spread of COVID–19. 13 SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF ADDITIONAL DUTIES ON IMPORTS 14 OF GOODS AND COMPONENTS FROM THE 15 PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (c), the 17 President shall— 18 (1) impose a duty on imports of any good from 19 the People’s Republic of China, and any component 20 manufactured in the People’s Republic of China that 21 is incorporated in any good imported from any other 22 country, in an amount equal to 10 percent ad valo- 23 rem of the good or component for the period begin- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4080.IH H4080 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4080 IH ning on the date of the enactment of this Act and 1 ending on December 31, 2021; and 2 (2) increase the duty imposed under subsection 3 (a) on such good or component by an additional 4 amount equal to 10 percent ad valorem of the good 5 or component for each calendar year beginning after 6 calendar year 2021. 7 (b) DUTIES TO BE CONSIDERED ADDITIONAL DU- 8 TIES.—The duty required by subsection (a) with respect 9 to a good or component is in addition to any other duty 10 imposed by law with respect to the good or component. 11 (c) SUNSET.—The requirement to impose a duty with 12 respect to a good or component under subsection (a) shall 13 cease to be effective beginning on the date on which the 14 President submits to Congress a certification that the 15 total amount deposited in the COVID–19 Restitution 16 Trust Fund established under section 4 equals or exceeds 17 the total amount necessary to provide full compensation 18 and reimbursement relating to COVID–19 for purposes of 19 the program established under section 5. 20 SEC. 4. TRUST FUND. 21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 22 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 23 Treasury shall establish an account, to be known as the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4080.IH H4080 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4080 IH ‘‘COVID–19 Restitution Trust Fund’’ (in this section re- 1 ferred to as the ‘‘Trust Fund’’). 2 (b) DEPOSIT OF AMOUNTS.—The Trust Fund shall 3 consist of the following: 4 (1) Amounts equal to the amounts of duties im- 5 posed on imports of any good from the People’s Re- 6 public of China, and any component manufactured 7 in the People’s Republic of China that is incor- 8 porated in any good imported from any other coun- 9 try, under section 3. 10 (2) Amounts provided by the People’s Republic 11 of China to provide full compensation and reim- 12 bursement relating to COVID–19, if any. 13 (c) APPROPRIATION.—The amount of funds depos- 14 ited in the Trust Fund is appropriated to the President 15 and may be expended to provide full compensation and 16 reimbursement relating to COVID–19 in accordance with 17 the compensation program established under section 5. 18 Such funds may not be used for any other purpose. 19 SEC. 5. COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, acting 21 through a Special Master appointed by the Attorney Gen- 22 eral, shall— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4080.IH H4080 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4080 IH (1) establish and administer a program to pro- 1 vide compensation and reimbursement with respect 2 to— 3 (A) economic losses incurred in the United 4 States resulting from COVID–19; 5 (B) financial losses of each business in the 6 United States resulting from COVID–19; 7 (C) funds and other forms of assistance 8 made available by the Federal government to 9 address COVID–19; and 10 (D) financial losses of each State and local 11 government resulting from COVID–19; 12 (2) promulgate all procedural and substantive 13 rules for the administration of the program; and 14 (3) employ and supervise hearing officers and 15 other administrative personnel to perform the duties 16 of the Special Master under the program. 17 (b) ECONOMIC LOSS DEFINED.—In this section, the 18 term ‘‘economic loss’’ means any pecuniary loss resulting 19 from harm, including the loss of earnings or other benefits 20 related to employment, medical expense loss, replacement 21 services loss, loss due to death, burial costs, and loss of 22 business or employment opportunities. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4080.IH H4080 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4080 IH SEC. 6. REPORT. 1 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact- 2 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to 3 Congress a report— 4 (1) identifying countries the Secretary deter- 5 mines have been adversely impacted by the Chinese 6 Communist Party, specifically related to the coverup, 7 misstatements, and obfuscation on the origin of 8 COVID–19; and 9 (2) describing measures the Secretary plans to 10 take to encourage other countries to adopt similar 11 tariffs or other retaliatory measures to collect dam- 12 ages from the People’s Republic of China. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4080.IH H4080 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS