Trade and Tariff Act of 1984

Trade and Tariff Act of 1984 clarified the conditions under which unfair trade cases under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 can be pursued. It also provided bilateral trade negotiating authority for the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement and the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement, and set out procedures to be followed for congressional approval of future bilateral trade agreements.
The H.R. 3398 bill was sponsored by Democrat Sam Gibbons representing the Florida's 7th congressional district. The Act of Congress was enacted into law by 40th President of the United States Ronald Reagan on October 30, 1984.

Congressional gatekeeping

A key feature of the legislation was its modification of the 1974 Trade Act's Fast track authority, incorporating a "committee gatekeeping" device. Congress opted to adapt the fast-track procedure to possible bilateral free-trade agreements with nations other than Israel. Going forward, the procedure provided that if a country other than Israel requested free-trade negotiations with the United States, the President would be required to notify two "gatekeeper" committees – the House Ways and Means and the Senate Finance committees – and to consult with those committees for a period of 60 legislative days before giving the statutorily required 90-day notice of his intent to sign an agreement. If neither committee disapproved of the negotiations during this 60-day committee consultation period, any subsequently negotiated agreement would receive fast-track legislative consideration. The 1984 Act thus greatly increased the influence of Congress in negotiating trade agreements. For example, the 60-day pre-negotiation consultation period with the two committees secured their involvement in the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement negotiations months before formal talks began, allowing Congress to extract concessions from the President as a condition of letting negotiations proceed.