The Senate on April 4 voted to confirm Elaine Duke to serve as deputy homeland security secretary. The Senate Homeland Security Committee on March 15 voted to clear the nomination of Duke for floor consideration (see 1703150046). Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., in an April 3 statement (here) urged his Senate colleagues to support Duke's nomination, after she served in Department of Homeland Security leadership during the Bush and Obama administrations. The DHS deputy secretary has been heavily involved in managing the International Trade Data System through ACE in the past, chairing the Border Interagency Executive Committee (BIEC).

The Senate Finance Committee plans to consider whether to advance to the Senate floor the nomination of Robert Lighthizer to serve as U.S. trade representative at 9:30 a.m. on April 6, the committee said (here). In a brief interview on April 4, Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., continued to assert a legislative waiver is needed to exempt Lighthizer from legal requirements barring individuals who have represented foreign entities from serving as USTR or deputy USTR (see 1702070047). Wyden said his staff and the staff of committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, are "having conversations" on "how it might be possible to get the necessary waiver. Senate Democrats want Republicans to consider unrelated legislation in exchange for clearing the path for Lighthizer’s prospective confirmation (see 1702150047).

Two Ohio senators renewed calls for the Commerce Department to treat currency manipulation as an unfair subsidy in trade remedy cases, in a letter dated March 30 (here). “We urge you to institute a policy of investigating allegations of currency manipulation when the [Commerce] Department receives such an allegation from U.S. petitioners in trade remedy cases,” Sens. Sherrod Brown (D) and Rob Portman (R) said in their letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. “We were disappointed that the last Administration elected to ignore allegations of currency manipulation in antidumping and countervailing duty investigations, and we urge you to quickly adopt a different policy,” they said. The White House has reportedly been formulating a plan to instruct Commerce to consider currency manipulation an unfair subsidy (see 1702140045).

Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:

Improving trade facilitation, including supply chains and border efficiencies, is critical to expanding agriculture trade and global food security efforts, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said March 29 in remarks (here) to the Chicago Council on Government Affairs in Washington. “Emergency assistance, agriculture development programs, and strong trade relationships, under many circumstances work hand in hand to help ensure a safer and more stable world for everyone,” he said.

House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, continues to contemplate "significant modifications” to border adjustability provisions within tax reform legislation, he said in an interview on Fox Business March 29 (here). While Brady didn't specify what those modifications might be, he recently noted an openness to some "design changes" to the transition to border adjustability, something retailers remain skeptical of (see 1703210058).

Regardless of administration, there's a need to rebalance the trade policy roles of the executive and legislative branches, said Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, during a March 30 speech at the American Enterprise Institute (here). Earlier this year, Lee introduced S. 177, the Global Trade Accountability Act, which would make all executive branch trade actions, including tariff increases and reductions, subject to congressional approval. That bill seems unlikely to make much progress in the near future (see 1702100043). President Donald Trump is making "trade policy great again" by reinvigorating debates on trade around the country, he said. "I see it as a good thing." The presidential election showed that voters are fed up with a "shallow contest of political slogans that has for far too long masqueraded as a reasoned, conscious discussion about trade policy."

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the Securing our Agriculture and Food Act, which would require Department of Homeland Security leadership to work with CBP in developing a plan to screen agricultural imports for terrorism threats, would cost only about $25,000 more than what was allocated for similar programs in 2016, according to a report (here). DHS provided $475,000 in 2016 for activities covered by the bill, CBO said. Enacting the bill wouldn’t affect direct spending or revenues, and wouldn’t affect budgets of state, local or tribal governments, CBO said.

House Republicans are going to “wade straight into” tax reform, as they are “turning the page” from their focus on healthcare, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady of Texas said March 26 on Fox News (here). House Speaker Paul Ryan on March 24 canceled a vote on the American Health Care Act because the legislation failed to secure enough votes to pass. “Let’s move ahead on tax reform,” Brady said. “I think it’s the number-one priority for both the president and Republicans, as well, in Congress. So let’s get onto the field that we’re the most comfortable on.” Although Brady acknowledged that the White House hasn’t signed on to the border adjustability elements of the House GOP’s tax plan, he pushed for upcoming tax legislation to be rolled out in a single piece, using the basic border adjustability elements as a basis. Instead of one bill each from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and the Senate, Brady said those groups should come together to develop one piece of legislation. “We are planning to move this in the Ways and Means Committee this spring,” Brady said.

Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills: