Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced legislation that would add substances to a new category of controlled substances called “Schedule A” if their chemical structure is substantially similar to an existing controlled substance and they are expected to have the same as or a greater effect on the human body than the current substance, Grassley’s office announced (here). The Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act of 2017 would apply existing Schedule III criminal penalties for manufacturers and traffickers of “Schedule A” substances, but would not impose new mandatory minimum sentences and not criminalize “simple possession of a Schedule A substance,” the announcement says. The legislation would allow legitimate research on “Schedule A” substances to continue.

The International Trade Commission its preliminary report on miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) petitions for duty relief to Congress on June 9, the ITC said (here). The ITC reopened its online petition portal between June 12 and 15 to receive comments on petitions that ITC isn’t recommending for inclusion in a congressional MTB. In the report sent to the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees, the ITC classifies petitions according to those meeting the statutory requirements with or without modification, petitions that don’t contain information required by the statute or weren’t filed by a likely beneficiary, and petitions that the ITC doesn’t recommend for inclusion in an MTB. The ITC will deliver its final report to Congress by Aug. 8, the commission said. In its preliminary report (here), the ITC said the majority of the 2,536 MTB petitions still on file required some form of correction or modification before meeting legal requirements.

The House on June 8 passed legislation that would repeal language in the Dodd-Frank Act requiring companies to report conflict minerals content in their products to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Specifically, H.R. 10, the Financial CHOICE Act (here), would strike Section 1502 of Dodd-Frank, which contains the conflict minerals provisions. A spokeswoman for the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said no announcement has been made on when the Senate might consider the legislation. But Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, in a June 8 statement (here) indicated his panel is undertaking a separate process to review Dodd-Frank provisions, which could last several months. “As this process moves forward, I want to encourage all members of the Committee to engage with us, work together with each other, and bring bipartisan legislation forward," Crapo said. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., in April expressed doubt that Dodd-Frank Section 1502 would be ultimately repealed (see 1704060051).

Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers urged Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in a letter sent this week (here) to be open and transparent with the public during the upcoming NAFTA renegotiation, saying that’s the only way the American public will have confidence in the deal and others in the future. “The NAFTA renegotiation process, and any other trade negotiation, must be transparent and involve broad stakeholder participation -- unlike the opaque and interest group-dominated negotiations that produced NAFTA” in the 1990s, the letter says. The lawmakers encouraged the Trump administration to make negotiated texts public during talks, with opportunity for comment after each negotiation round.

The House on June 7 passed H.R. 2213, the Anti-Border Corruption Act (here), which would give CBP limited discretion to waive pre-employment polygraphs for law enforcement applicants and armed forces applicants who recently held a security clearance, the House Homeland Security Committee announced (here). The Senate Homeland Security Committee last month approved companion legislation (see 1705180067). “Our national security depends on ensuring there are the right number of well-trained agents and officers on our front lines,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said in a statement. “This commonsense, bipartisan solution expedites the hiring process for those who have previously taken an oath and put their lives on the line for our country, allowing CBP to more effectively carry out their mission of safeguarding America’s borders and ports of entry.” The committees didn’t comment on whether the full Senate is expected to consider the Senate or House bill. In June 7 written testimony to the House committee (here),

Slow CBP enforcement and duty collection efforts are impeding U.S. producers’ ability to recover from dumped imports of Chinese honey, Montana’s and North Dakota’s Senate delegations said in a June 6 letter to Acting CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan (here). Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., John Hoeven, R-N.D., Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., said they learned in 2015 that CBP paid itself interest from duties collected instead of passing along relief to U.S. producers, resulting in “CBP deducting more than 90 percent of the duties collected to pay itself interest.” Despite the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act’s [TFTEA’s] direction for all collected duty and interest amounts to be paid to producers, CBP has decided to “selectively apply” these provisions as the agency claims calculating owed amounts is “too difficult," the senators wrote. “This is an unacceptable decision for jobs in our states,” they wrote. “As Section 605 [of TFTEA] directs, all duties and interest collected on honey imports for the period covered by the law should be paid to honey producers.” The letter ends by urging CBP to pursue collection of all outstanding duties and accrued interest, and requesting a reply from McAleenan.

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) would like to see an additional $350 million above CBP’s fiscal year 2018 budget request for Office of Field Operations (OFO) staffing purposes, NTEU National President Tony Reardon said in a June 6 submission to the Senate Homeland Security Committee (here). While CBP is budgeting an overall increase of $2.9 billion for FY 2018 over its FY 2017 annualized continuing resolution-enacted level of $13.5 billion, next fiscal year’s budget doesn’t include any money for new OFO officers, an NTEU spokesperson said in an email.

Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bill:

Boosting U.S. beef and poultry exports and “repealing” the Agriculture Department’s “cumbersome and costly” catfish inspection program were among the topics Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Chris Coons, D-Del.; and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., discussed with Vietnamese officials during a congressional delegation trip in the Pacific region, the senators said in a statement (here). “Vietnam is an important partner with which the United States shares many strategic and economic interests, including expanding regional trade relationships and furthering our maritime security cooperation,” the senators said. USDA’s proposed fiscal year 2018 budget zeroes out funding for the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s current catfish inspection program, and proposes that FDA absorb the program next fiscal year (see 1705250030). USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service only recently picked up catfish inspection responsibilities from FDA (see 1605040041).