Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert, R-Wash., and fellow committee Republicans met with “key members” of the Trump administration’s trade team on Feb. 16, Reichert said in a statement (here). “High-quality trade agreements are critical to the success of our farmers, workers, entrepreneurs and local and national economy,” Reichert said. “We must put America’s interests first by giving our exporters access to new markets, holding our trading partners accountable, and creating new opportunities to sell our goods around the world. I look forward to building on the meeting we had today and working toward our shared goals of engaging in high-quality trade agreements and growing jobs here at home.”

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, on Feb. 14 reintroduced legislation that would require shipments from foreign countries through the U.S. Postal Service to provide advance electronic data to CBP about the packages before they cross into the U.S., this time with Democratic Senate support, according to a statement by Portman's office (here). The legislation would subject the postal service to CBP electronic data requirements similar to those for express carriers like FedEx and UPS. The previous versions of the legislation were introduced in September (see 1609080047). The bills would require the merchandise's owner, purchaser or valid licensee to provide information such as shipper, place of origin, destination and content, by time of entry. Further, the treasury secretary within one year of enactment would be required to issue regulations to implement the legislation. House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Richard Neal of Massachusetts, Rep. Kathleen Rice of New York, and Rep. Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire are the Democratic co-sponsors of the House legislation (here), while Democratic co-sponsors in the Senate are Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Chris Coons of Delaware (here).

The House Agriculture Committee on Feb. 16 advanced a bill that among other things will increase registration fees for EPA import approval-related services under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the committee announced (here). For instance, the legislation would raise base registration service fees to establish import tolerances for a new active ingredient or first food use for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 from the current $289,407 to $319,072. “All requests for new uses (food and/or nonfood) contained in any application for a new active ingredient or a first food use are covered by the base fee for that new active ingredient or first food use application and retain the same decision time review period as the new active ingredient or first food use application,” the bill text states. “The application must be received by the agency in one package.” The base fee covers a maximum of five new products.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee didn’t leave a Feb. 15 private meeting with White House trade leaders with any specific sense of how the Trump administration plans to approach the myriad trade issues under its purview, two Republican members and one Democratic member of the committee said following the discussion. Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement that National Trade Council chief Peter Navarro and White House Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt “offered few details” and no strategy on the administration’s trade objectives. “I made clear that any new NAFTA deal needs to eliminate rules that undermine U.S. trade remedy protections for American workers and must create market access for dairy farmers and other businesses that drive America’s rural economy, and address the full range of challenges facing American workers and businesses trying to compete in a fast-moving 21st century global economy,” Wyden said. Navarro and Greenblatt at times appeared to “contradict” congressional trade directives enacted in 2015 and were at odds with recent statements made by President Donald Trump about his trade policy, Wyden said.

Top Democratic trade lawmakers on Feb. 16 introduced legislation to require presidents to disclose any financial interests that would be “at stake” before acting on trade matters, according to announcements from Democrats on the Senate Finance (here) and House Ways and Means (here) committees. “Americans have a right to know if the President is looking out for the good of the country or just his own bottom line when he negotiates a trade deal, decides whether or not to enforce our trade laws, or decides whether to cut tariffs on imports from a developing country,” Senate Finance ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement. “Trump has business interests around the world, but he continues to keep the full nature of those ties secret.” House Ways and Means ranking member Richard Neal, D-Mass., said the legislation is a “commonsense measure.” Specifically, the bills would direct the president to disseminate foreign income, assets and liabilities when the U.S. starts or continues trade or investment negotiations with another country, when taking or refraining to take certain trade enforcement actions, or when granting or modifying preferential tariff treatment under statutory trade preference programs, according to a summary of the Presidential Trade Transparency Act (here). The Republican offices of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means majority didn't comment.

The destination-based, border-adjustable tax reform framework proposed by House GOP lawmakers could bring implementation challenges but shouldn’t alter the U.S.'s overall trade balance, the nonpartisan Tax Foundation said in a report (here). Though border adjustment calls for exemption of exports from taxation, the plan might actually overtax exports in some situations, it said. It is too early to decipher whether consumers and producers could bear additional short-term cost burdens resulting from an expected tax increase brought by the plan, because transition rules remain unclear, the report says. “For example, lawmakers could phase in the border adjustment over a number of years,” the report says. “The downside of this, however, is it would reduce the provision’s effectiveness as a base broadener.”

Senate Democrats are working with GOP counterparts to negotiate a waiver to allow the confirmation of U.S. Trade Representative nominee Robert Lighthizer in exchange for Republican support for the Miners Protection Act, a spokesman for Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., confirmed in an email. Lighthizer needs the waiver because he represented the Brazilian Ministry of Industry and Commerce’s Sugar and Alcohol Institute in bilateral discussions with the U.S. to resolve ethanol trade disputes in 1985, and legal representations of foreign governments in trade discussions are prohibited by statute (see 1701250061) for anyone serving as USTR. Introduced by Manchin on Jan. 17, the Miners Protection Act would guarantee health care and pension funding for retired coal miners and widows. The offices of Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and the Senate Finance Committee didn’t immediately comment.

Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:

The House Ways and Means Committee’s Democratic minority on Feb. 13 shuffled some panel assignments for the 115th Congress, including for the Trade Subcommittee, committee Democrats announced in an email. The addition of Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., to the committee last week (see 1702070021) following the original January announcement of Democratic committee assignments (see 1701120009) was apparently associated with the tweaks, according to the announcement. Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., will serve on the Trade Subcommittee instead of Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., under subcommittee ranking member Bill Pascrell, D-N.J.