Administration Hits Back at GOP Attempt to Merge USTR into Commerce
The Obama administration pushed back against a Senate Republican attempt to bring the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative directly into the fold of the Commerce Department in a recent letter to Senate Appropriations Chairman Than Cochran, R-Miss. The committee…
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approved language in mid-June that would merge USTR into the Commerce Department as part of the fiscal year 2016 appropriations legislation. Administration officials and Congress have strived over recent years to merge trade agencies in Washington, but any consolidation needs to be part of a broader plan, said the June 24 letter (here) from Shaun Donovan, director of the Office of Management and Budget. “The FY 2016 Budget requests the authority to reorganize certain business and trade-related agencies in a coordinated effort that would achieve greater efficiencies over the long term," said Donovan. But "simply consolidating USTR into the Department of Commerce without the broader consolidation authority could potentially damage international trade negotiations without achieving the benefits sought through the administration's proposal.” The Senate legislation (here), which replaces text from the House Appropriations bill, HR-2578, directs Commerce to “provide a plan to Congress that would allow the [USTR] to continue functioning as the chief trade negotiator for the United States following USTR’s consolidation into [Commerce].”