The Senate is set on Sept. 18 to vote on the Continuing Appropriations Resolution 2015, H.J.Res.124 (here), following the House approval of the bill the day before. The measure gives the go ahead for the administration to train and arm Syrian rebels. It also includes an extension of the Export-Import Bank charter through June 2015. The House voted 319-108 to pass the bill. A spokesman for the Senate Appropriations Committee said the last votes are expected tonight by 6 p.m.

Unrestricted global data flows are critical to the health of e-commerce, said eBay Executive Director-Global Public Policy Lab Brian Bieron, testifying Sept. 17 before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade. "Government restrictions on where companies can process data "would greatly limit the many benefits of the Internet," Bieron said, in prepared remarks. "Imposing data localization requirements on Internet-enabled businesses is problematic from both an economic and security perspective." Bieron said the problem is not remote. "Localization barriers are actually proliferating most among some of the larger and more developed countries," he said. "G20 countries are responsible for 65 percent of the protectionist measures, and at the same time, they are also the countries which are the worst affected by protectionism." Subcommittee Chairman Lee Terry, R-Neb., said in his opening statement "the European Commission, for example, has argued that localization of data could be a way to promote domestic industry and create jobs" (here). The hearing was to discuss the role of cross-border data flows in the ongoing negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Trade in Services Agreement, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and U.S.-EU safe harbor agreement, said a background memo (here). "I am hopeful that Congress can send a unified message to current and future trading partners that trade barriers will not be tolerated, and that we will protect our economic interest in data flows," Terry said.

Senate leadership should act quickly to approve the nomination of Robert Holleyman as deputy U.S. Trade Representative before the end of the week, said the American Apparel and Footwear Association on Sept. 15. AAFA President Juanita Duggan said Holleyman has widespread support on both Capitol Hill and within the trade community. The Senate Finance Committee unanimously advanced the nomination in late July (see 14080121). “By swiftly confirming Mr. Holleyman, the Senate has an opportunity to ensure a full leadership team at the USTR right now,” said Duggan in the letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “This is vital if we are to engage our trading partners at the highest levels during the coming months on a range of trade negotiations, enforcement actions, and bilateral dialogues that are entering sensitive phases.” Reid previously warned senators that the chamber would stay in session through the weekend of Sept. 19-21. The Senate will then go into recess through the November mid-terms. Reid's office did not respond for comment.

The House is set on Sept. 17 to vote on the stopgap funding measure that will allow the government to operate at fiscal year 2014 levels through mid-December. The Continuing Appropriations Resolution 2015, H.J.Res.124 (here), also includes an extension of the Export-Import Bank through June 2015, and is likely to provide authorization for arming Syrian rebels. The Senate will then have to vote on the bill and send it to the president’s desk for his signature before it leaves the Capitol for a roughly two-month recess.

Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:

The House Republican move to put a nine-month Export-Import Bank extension in a 2015 stopgap funding measure actually aims to “eventually kill it altogether,” said Democratic leadership in recent days. The House is set to consider the Continuing Appropriations Resolution 2015, H.J.Res.124 (here), on Sept. 16 (here). Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., urged a long-term renewal of the bank, but did not reject the addition of an Ex-Im extension in the funding measure. “A multi-year extension of its charter would end the uncertainty that is deterring businesses from entering new markets,” said a letter to Democratic colleagues. “We oppose the Majority’s cynical strategy to eliminate the Export-Import Bank and are committed to working with you to preserve and strengthen it for the long term with a multi-year authorization.”

The Commerce Department’s decision to launch antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on Chinese passenger vehicles and light truck tires is a step in the right direction toward mitigating U.S. industry damage, said 31 Democratic senators, led by Kay Hagan, D-N.C., in a Sept. 15 letter. Commerce is set to make preliminary determinations on countervailing duties for the Chinese imports in late November (see 14081313). The United Steelworkers have petitioned Commerce multiple times in recent years to try to put CV duties into effect. “The Steelworkers’ petitions identified dumping margins as high as 87.99 percent and provided sufficient information for the department to initiate an investigation on 39 separate subsidies available to tire producers in China,” said the letter, sent to Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker. The union also rallied behind the letter. "China has methodically targeted industry after industry to fuel their export-led growth model and to keep their people employed,” said USW President Leo Gerard in a statement (here). “Too often, America is on the receiving side of their unfair trade practices that have contributed to the loss of more than 5 million manufacturing jobs and the shuttering of more than 60,000 facilities.”

The bill that Rep. Janice Hahn, D-Calif., introduced in recent days would set up a pilot program at two U.S. domestic ports to evaluate the potential for the Department of Homeland Security to meet a 100 percent inbound cargo scanning mandate (see 14091508). DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson has said the 100 percent campaign is beyond the reach of DHS as Congress did not provide funding for the mandate. The Scan Containers Absolutely Now Act, HR-5455, would put into effect a one-year pilot program at the two ports. DHS would be authorized to select the scanning equipment provided to the ports and then be responsible for the port application process. That pilot program would have to be in force with full implementation a year after enactment of the bill. A year after completion of the pilot, DHS would then have to submit a report on its findings. The measure would also authorize $30 million in funding for the pilot in fiscal year 2014.

Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:

More than 550 advocacy organizations pressed Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to develop a negotiating authority that meets the needs of a 21st century trade environment, while rejecting the Trade Promotion Authority legislation floated in January. Wyden pledged in April to craft another version of such a measure, but has not since indicated precisely what that would include (see 14040919). “In this new model of trade authority, expedited consideration of completed agreements should only be available if and when Congress determines that its negotiating objectives have been satisfied and the executive branch has abided by requirements for increased congressional and public oversight over the entire process,” said the advocacy groups, including Public Citizen and the Sierra Club, in a letter. The groups also called for strengthened congressional influence in trade negotiations, as well as increased public transparency.