Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called on CBP to work to improve management of its enforcement of exclusion orders following a Government Accountability Office report on the subject, they said in a joint statement (here). The GAO found a number of problems with CBP's management of International Trade Commission exclusion order enforcement in its report released Nov. 20 (see 1411200009). “As the gatekeepers of our borders, it is vital CBP work to enforce the trade laws that were designed to shield American innovators from imports that infringe their patents," the senators said. "But, as we learned from the GAO, there is clearly more work that needs to be done to better manage these processes and procedures.” CBP should "take steps, including those recommended in this report, and look forward to working with them to make border enforcement of intellectual property rights more efficient and more effective.” Wyden and Hatch requested that the GAO conduct the report in November 2013 (see 13110121).
Correction: Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, appointed on Nov. 18 Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (here), as allowed for Intelligence Committee positions.
House and Senate appropriators should prohibit Agriculture Department funding for Chinese poultry in school nutrition programs administered by USDA, said the Safe Food Coalition, an association comprised of several food safety advocacy groups, on Nov. 19 (here). The House-passed agriculture appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2015, HR-4800 (here), includes a provision to bar those funds. The Senate has not yet voted on agriculture appropriations legislation. USDA certified four Chinese facilities to export poultry products to the U.S. in early November, but the coalition fears a lack of USDA inspectors on the ground and poor Chinese documentation threaten to still allow harmful poultry into the U.S. “Further, there is a real concern that the USDA will, in the near future, grant equivalency for Chinese poultry slaughter facilities, despite the fact that China’s food safety system is fraught with problems,” said the letter. Congress needs to act on appropriations legislation for FY15, which began on Oct. 1, by Dec. 11 in order to avert a government shutdown.
The House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees continue to harm a wide range of U.S. manufacturing by refusing to tackle Miscellaneous Tariff Bill renewal legislation, said National Associations of Manufacturers Vice President of International Economic Affairs Linda Dempsey in a conference call on Nov. 19. MTB renewal has languished on Capitol Hill since last expiring at the end of 2012 due, in part, to a Senate moratorium on earmarks. A number of industry representatives, including domestic textile producers, are urging immediate MTB renewal [see 1411130012). Dempsey and two producers also pushed Congress to act on MTB in the lame-duck session. “I’m not going to say whether it should move as part of tax extenders, move on its own or move as some other part of legislation,” said Dempsey. “If not we will be seeking action by the newly-announced Ways and Means incoming chairman Paul Ryan, the incoming Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Hatch, as well as Mr. Levin and Sen. Wyden.” Levin is ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, and Wyden is current chairman of Finance. Those trade committees may also want to consider a bigger role for the International Trade Commission in the MTB review process, said Dempsey, while rejecting the argument that MTB exemptions are “earmarks.”
The House Republican Steering Committee recommended Paul Ryan to be the next Ways and Means Committee chairman on Nov. 18 (here). That recommendation was largely expected despite a fight from Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas (see 14092532). The Steering Committee made only informal recommendations for leadership on all House committees, and the caucus will vote on the recommendations later in the week.
Expiration of the Generalized System of Preferences is continuing to bankrupt companies and slash profits, as the lapse now becomes the longest in the program’s 40-year history, said more than 600 companies and associations, as well as the Coalition for GSP, in a Nov. 17 letter to congressional leadership (here). The preference program expired on July 31, 2013. Industry stakeholders are pushing Congress to act on trade legislation in the lame-duck session, but there is no clear-cut vehicle to tack on GSP renewal, along with other trade bills (see 1411170027).
A coalition of industry CEOs urged congressional leadership to tackle Trade Promotion Authority in the lame-duck session in a Nov. 13 letter to the leadership squad (here). The Business Roundtable pushed the lawmakers to pass “updated” TPA, but made no mention of a specific bill. A bipartisan group of House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committee legislators introduced a TPA bill in January. Finance ranking member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, co-introduced that bill, and he is now set to take over Finance following the Republican midterm landslide. Some analysts say current Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., privately proposed changes to that legislation in recent weeks (see 1411120045). The Business Roundtable letter also pressed the leadership squad to pass tax extenders. In the past, lawmakers have eyed extenders as a vehicle for trade legislation (see 14051620). Republican senators reelected Mitch McConnell to lead their party on Nov. 13, while Democrats also approved Harry Reid for the chief party post in the chamber despite some efforts to delay a vote (here).
The House approved the Senate version of the E-Label Act (S-2583) Nov. 13 by unanimous voice vote. It had already approved its own companion version of the legislation. The bill would allow device manufacturers to include a required Federal Communications Commission label digitally rather than on the physical device. The legislation now advances for White House signature to become law. "I am confident the FCCs Office of Engineering and Technology will do a great job updating our labeling rules," said bill author Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., in a statement following the House approval (here).
Democratic senators representing West Coast states prodded the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association to advance negotiations on a labor contract in a Nov. 12 letter to the heads of both organizations (here). The negotiations are on a downward spiral, and some industry members recently said the standoff threatens holiday imports (see 1411100015). “This collective bargaining agreement is important for the health, safety and economic well-being of the 13,600 longshore, clerk and foreman workers at 29 ports from California to Washington, as well as for companies large and small, agriculture producers, ports and international buyers around the world,” said the letter.
Congress should move quickly on advancing the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill in order to ramp up U.S. manufacturing exports, said the National Council of Textile Organizations in a Nov. 12 statement. The legislation has languished on Capitol Hill since expiring at the end of 2012. A Senate moratorium on earmarks has so far, at least partially, hampered progress on a new bill (see 13111328). The bill decreases production costs, making the U.S. more competitive, said NCTO. “Frankly, the failure to approve a miscellaneous tariff bill is a classic example of the legislative dysfunction that has gripped Washington in recent years,” said NCTO President Auggie Tantillo. “For decades the MTB was a non-controversial, bipartisan initiative. There is no good reason that this critical issue should remain unresolved.” President Barack Obama and likely next Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pledged to tackle trade in the next Congress (see 1411050056). Lawmakers should build on those commitments to push through an MTB bill, said NCTO.