The Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee on June 15 favorably reported out the nomination of Federal Maritime Commissioner Rebecca Dye to serve a third full term on the commission, the committee said (here). Her nomination now awaits consideration by the full Senate.

The fiscal 2017 Senate Financial Services and General Government spending bill would fund the Consumer Product Safety Commission at $124 million, $7 million less than President Barack Obama’s budget request and $1 million less than current enacted level, the Senate Appropriations Committee Minority said (here). The Senate Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee unanimously approved the bill with no amendments on June 15. The spending bill does not include a White House-requested authorization for consumer product import fees to be paid by importers to support expansion of CPSC’s import surveillance activities. The legislation also omits requested funding to conduct applied research on exposure to “potential chronic hazards” related to nanotechnology in consumer products and “crumb rubber” used in field turf and playgrounds. The House Appropriations Committee on June 9 reported out its version of FY17 Financial Services and General Government spending legislation, which proposed to fund CPSC at $120 million, the committee said (here). The full Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up the chamber's version of FY17 spending legislation at 10:30 a.m. on June 16.

The Senate Finance Committee released a list of witnesses for its June 15 hearing on counterfeits and opportunities for small business exporters in the digital age (here). Testifying will be ICE U.S. National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center Director Bruce Foucart, UPS Vice President of Global Customs Policy & Public Affairs Norman Schenk, and Belkin International General Counsel Tom Triggs. The hearing will likely focus on the importance of protecting U.S. intellectual property as e-commerce poses new challenges for traders, said Sandler Travis Senior Director for International Trade and Governmental Relations Edward Steiner.

A more open EU agriculture export market, ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, normalizing trade relations with Cuba, and an expedited Chinese approval process for biotechnology products would all help improve U.S. agriculture exports, industry executives told House lawmakers June 14. During a House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee hearing on expanding U.S. agriculture trade and eliminating barriers to U.S. exports, speakers expressed concern that U.S. companies are losing agricultural market share in certain countries. For example, the U.S. slid from the EU’s No. 1 agricultural exporter to No. 5, Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation President Kevin Paap said during the hearing; and U.S. agricultural market share has dropped from No. 1 to No. 4 in Cuba recently, too, as the U.S. is competing with the EU, Brazil and Argentina in that country, Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., said.

Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., applauded the Senate Agriculture Committee’s efforts to find a compromise on legislation that would pre-empt a Vermont regulation that on July 1 would require labels for genetically modified foods (see 1606020047). “Arkansans could see their grocery bills increase by more than $50 each month to pay for compliance costs,” Cotton said in a statement (here). “And this law could also effectively require food products to have different labels in every state or even every locality.” A Cotton spokeswoman in an email highlighted laws set to take effect in Connecticut, Maryland and California, which the senator believes will be "extremely expensive," she said. Republicans and Democrats are arguing over whether the national labeling standard that would be enacted through the bill should be voluntary or mandatory, respectively. Senate legislation on the issue has stalled since a March vote to prevent a final vote on it (see 1603170023). The House passed similar legislation last July (here).

The House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee on June 9 unanimously passed its version of fiscal 2017 Department of Homeland Security spending legislation, which proposes to boost CBP spending $158 million above active levels (see 1606080053), setting up the legislation for full Appropriations Committee consideration, subcommittee Chairman John Carter, R-Texas, said in a statement (here).

The Trans-Pacific Partnership won’t pass Congress this year, and the deal must be reworked, as it does not currently have enough support to pass, House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said during an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations on June 9 (here). “We’re going to have to, as a Congress, work with whoever the next president is to make sure that this TPP deal ultimately gets done, but that it’s a better deal for the American people at the same time,” he said. The Obama administration “dragged their feet,” but is “finally” engaging to move TPP forward, which is necessary to “write the rules of trade” in lieu of “bad regimes” writing them, Nunes said.

The Senate Finance Committee will host a hearing on counterfeit goods and challenges and opportunities in front of U.S. business exporters in the digital age at 2 p.m. June 15, the committee said (here). “A 21st century global economy provides both great opportunities and challenges for American manufacturers and businesses that are unique to a digital marketplace,” Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said in a statement. “With this hearing, members will examine problems facing businesses, including the importation of counterfeit goods, as well as explore opportunities the digital marketplace presents for small businesses.”

Foreign authorities are trying to counter the efforts of several companies allegedly linked to Hezbollah, as reports indicate that 285 companies dodged $270 million in taxes and that agents could be colluding with customs officials and politicians in Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina (PBA) to evade inspections of “problematic” shipments from the likes of Miami International Airport and Dubai, a sanctions expert told House lawmakers June 8. “Imported goods are re-exported through the PBA, a porous border of the southern end of a long lawless frontier infamous for drugs and weapons trafficking,” Emanuele Ottolenghi, senior fellow at the Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said (here) during a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee's Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing. Terrorists are believed to launder drug money through these import and re-export activities, he said.