The status of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement negotiations, responses to overseas currency manipulation, and the launch of new bilateral trade negotiations, “such as with the United Kingdom,” could be among the most prominent trade issues to be considered by the 115th Congress, according to a Congressional Research Service report (here). The new session begins Jan. 3. Trade policy in Asia also figures to be a major issue for the upcoming Congress after President-elect Donald Trump in November announced he intends to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership immediately after taking office Jan. 20, said the CRS report on trade issues for the new Congress. "In the near term, concerns over a slowdown in global trade and the role the United States may play in supporting global growth as a major importer may overshadow potential concerns over global imbalances."

All 19 Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee introduced legislation Dec. 20 that would level sanctions on any foreign person or entity found to illegally interfere in a U.S. election, the committee Democratic minority said (here). The bill would require the secretary of state to compile a public list of foreign people and entities that have illicitly interfered in U.S. elections for federal office since Jan. 1, 2015. Those listed would be prohibited from entering the U.S. and have their U.S. financial assets frozen. The legislation would also require the secretary of state to send a report to Congress after every federal election summarizing foreign interference in the previous election cycle.

A “radical change to the corporate tax structure” such as the border adjustability elements of the House GOP tax plan could have a significant negative impact on the U.S. toy industry, most of whose products are imported, said Toy Industry Association (TIA) President Steve Pasierb in a letter to members (here). "While representatives are hearing the concerns, momentum is going in the wrong direction (for us), as it fits in with current rhetoric to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.,” the association said. “However, the U.S. toy industry was never an industry that wholly relied on U.S. manufacturing.” Furthermore, TIA pledged to “hit the ground running” next year to ensure that any forthcoming House tax reform legislation doesn’t include border adjustability elements, noting: “We won’t rest and we have powerful allies.” The House GOP plan would exempt exports from taxation, but tax imports (see 1612010056).

The U.S. government should consider new recruitment and retention tools for financial crime investigators as well as a funding increase for Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Office of Foreign Assets Control, and Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence in order to counter trade-based money laundering efforts, the House Financial Services Committee Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing said in a report released Dec. 20 (here).

Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are requesting that the Office of Foreign Assets Control contact the committee before Dec. 24 to schedule a briefing on certain aspects of an agreement for Boeing to sell 80 jetliners to Iranian state-owned Iran Air for approximately $16.6 billion, according to a Dec. 15 letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew (here). Specifically, committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and House Oversight and Government Reform National Security Subcommittee Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., requested that Treasury share information related to the OFAC licensing timeline, OFAC’s interagency coordination preceding approval, any sanctions-related contingency plans, any measures preventing illicit transfers of U.S. technology, and Treasury’s communication with the incoming Trump administration regarding progress on the Boeing deal. Once completed, the sale would be the largest business deal between the U.S. and Iran since the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the letter says.

The Food and Drug Administration and Consumer Product Safety Commission should consider whether to recall e-cigarette batteries and related devices that have recently caught fire and exploded, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement (here). “Despite the explosions, no recalls have been issued,” he said. “It's radio silence from both the industry and the feds, so that’s why I’m sounding the alarm. The CPSC and FDA should investigate and determine which e-cigarette batteries and devices are the most volatile, and require a recall to make sure these explosions stop.” Schumer cited a New York Times report stating that about 90 percent of the world’s e-cigarettes are produced in China, and a Wall Street Journal report stating that many of the included batteries are also manufactured by Chinese companies. Schumer wrote a letter to FDA Commissioner of Food and Drugs Robert Califf and CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye asking their agencies to “take immediate steps” to protect Americans from “potentially dangerous” e-cigarettes. In May, the FDA finalized a rule extending its regulatory authority to cover e-cigarettes (see 1605050011).

Amid grievances raised by importing industries and Senate Democrats, House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, on Dec. 18 vowed to keep border adjustability tax provisions for imports and exports in the House GOP’s plan for tax reform. Speaking during C-SPAN’s Newsmakers (here), Brady said foreign competitors don’t tax exports to the U.S., but the U.S. taxes its exports. “Today, we lose both here in America, and we lose around the world,” Brady said. “That can’t stand. This is a key part of our ‘Built for Growth’ tax [initiative]. It’s going to stay.” The border adjustability aspects of the House GOP’s tax reform proposal would exempt exports from taxes while taxing imports. Importers raised concerns about the plan in meetings with lawmakers and in a letter to Brady’s committee (see 1612140046).

Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:

The Senate on Dec. 10 passed S. 2852, the “OPEN Government Data Act,” by unanimous consent, sending the legislation to the House for consideration. Introduced April 26 by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, the bill would require government data made available by federal agencies to be published as machine-readable data, and to make agencies’ “enterprise data” inventories available on Data.gov. As described in the legislation, enterprise data include data assets used in agency information systems, including program administration, statistical and financial activity; data assets “shared or maintained” across agency programs and bureaus; and data assets shared among agencies or created by more than one agency.

The Senate on Dec. 10 by unanimous consent passed legislation that would exempt exporters of sea urchins and sea cucumbers intended for human or animal consumption from licensing requirements or Endangered Species Act export permission requirements. The passed legislation includes an amendment for H.R. 4245 introduced by Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, which rewrites the version of the bill passed by the House on Sept. 6, to set the rulemaking deadline for the Fish and Wildlife Service director at 180 days after enactment, instead of the House-proposed 30 days, and to omit House-proposed licensing exemptions for squid, octopus and cuttlefish. H.R. 4245, originally proposed by Maine Reps. Chellie Pingree, D, and Bruce Poliquin, R, now goes back to the House for approval of its amended form. The Congressional Budget Office said in an Aug. 12 analysis that enactment of the bill would have a negligible effect on the federal budget (see 1608150018).