The House passed agriculture appropriations legislation for Fiscal Year 2016 on July 8, and the bill includes an amendment (here) to ban Brazilian and Argentine beef imports until the Agriculture Department makes further evaluations of the risk of foot and mouth disease. The legislation would force Agriculture to conduct a “comprehensive risk evaluation that includes quantitative risk assessment of importing beef produced in Argentina and Brazil.” The bill would also require additional Agriculture visits to slaughtering and processing facilities in both countries. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service amended its regulations in recent days to pave the way for those imports (see 1507010024). The new regulations apply to the Brazilian states of Bahia, Distrito Federal, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Rondônia, São Paulo, Sergipe, and Tocantins, as well as the Argentine region north of Patagonia South and Patagonia North B.
Lawmakers introduced the following trade-related bills since International Trade Today's last legislative update:
The Senate unanimously confirmed on July 7 the nomination of Kara Farnandez Stoll, a lawyer with Finnegan Henderson, as a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit handles appeals of Court of International Trade decisions.
A revised version of port performance legislation wisely creates a working group to help identify and analyze measurement criteria and shifts reporting requirements away from port authorities, said the American Association of Port Authorities in a recent letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and other high-ranking committee lawmakers. The legislation, S-1298, now directs the Obama administration to draw members of the working group from CBP and the Federal Maritime Commission, as well as other agencies and transportation groups.
House Republican leadership is likely to name conferees for Customs Reauthorization conference before the end of the week on July 10, said a spokesman for House Ways and Means ranking member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., the top Democratic trade legislator in the chamber. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said in a recent memo the House may vote to endorse conference in the coming days (see 1507060014). A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, didn't respond for comment.
A House vote to go to conference on Customs Reauthorization is due for "possible consideration" this week after the chamber reconvenes on July 6 following the Independence Day break, said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in a memo on the Republican leadership's weekly agenda (here). The Senate passed a measure to endorse a conference on June 24 (see 1506250019). Lawmakers in the House and Senate passed separate customs bills over recent weeks. The two bills share core similarities, but differ on some provisions, such as the Senate's ENFORCE ACT and the House's PROTECT ACT (see 1506230020).
Lawmakers introduced the following trade-related bills since International Trade Today's last legislative update:
Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, introduced legislation in recent days to strip a labor union of accreditation if the National Labor Relations Board (NLBR) determines union members deliberately slowed down activity at U.S. ports. The Preventing Labor Union Slowdowns Act of 2015, S-1630 (here), comes in the wake of months of major gridlock at West Coast ports from Fall 2014 through February 2015 (see 1502230002). A contract dispute between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union caused, at least partially, the slowdowns and shutdowns.
The Obama administration pushed back against a Senate Republican attempt to bring the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative directly into the fold of the Commerce Department in a recent letter to Senate Appropriations Chairman Than Cochran, R-Miss. The committee approved language in mid-June that would merge USTR into the Commerce Department as part of the fiscal year 2016 appropriations legislation. Administration officials and Congress have strived over recent years to merge trade agencies in Washington, but any consolidation needs to be part of a broader plan, said the June 24 letter (here) from Shaun Donovan, director of the Office of Management and Budget. “The FY 2016 Budget requests the authority to reorganize certain business and trade-related agencies in a coordinated effort that would achieve greater efficiencies over the long term," said Donovan. But "simply consolidating USTR into the Department of Commerce without the broader consolidation authority could potentially damage international trade negotiations without achieving the benefits sought through the administration's proposal.” The Senate legislation (here), which replaces text from the House Appropriations bill, HR-2578, directs Commerce to “provide a plan to Congress that would allow the [USTR] to continue functioning as the chief trade negotiator for the United States following USTR’s consolidation into [Commerce].”
House and Senate Democratic leadership lashed into Republican refusal to move forward on reauthorization for the Export-Import Bank in a June 25 press conference, just five days before the credit agency’s expiration. Congress left town for a ten-day Independence Day recess following the press conference, and Ex-Im will have lapsed for nearly a week by the time lawmakers return.