The House Ways and Means Committee passed by voice vote on July 10 a measure to provide funds for federal highway projects through May 31, 2015, the committee said in an emailed press release. Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., introduced the measure (here) on July 8, but lawmakers continue to debate funding mechanisms to make Highway Trust Funds solvent (see 14070904). The Senate Finance Committee will also resume consideration of a counterpart bill later on July 10 (here). “I do not support, and the House will not support, billions of dollars in higher taxes to pay for more spending,” said Camp in the release. “And, I certainly do not support permanent tax increases to pay for just 10 months of highway programs.”
The Obama administration should use the ongoing U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue as a forum to press forward “decisively” on addressing Chinese currency manipulation, Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Bob Casey, D-Pa., in a July 9 letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. “Despite overwhelming bipartisan support, efforts to address this issue by both this administration and the previous administration have proved insignificant,” said the letter. “We understand that the issue rests with Treasury. As such, we would like to make clear that without inclusion of strong and enforceable currency manipulation disciplines in any future trade agreement, the President’s trade agenda, including the passage of the [Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)], is in jeopardy.” Sixty Senators also sent a letter to Secretary Lew and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in September 2013 to encourage currency rules in U.S. free trade agreements (see 13092423). The U.S. has not broached currency in TPP negotiations, said Froman in May testimony before Congress (see 14050123).
The House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee will hold a July 16 hearing on the U.S. trade agenda and the World Trade Organization (WTO), the subcommittee said in an emailed statement. Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Michael Punke is scheduled to testify. “We’d like to explore ways the WTO could more effectively address today’s behind-the-border barriers to trade and continue to address remaining tariff and non-tariff barriers, including sanitary and phytosanitary barriers to agriculture trade that are not based on sound science,” said subcommittee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., in the statement. Areas of focus at the hearing will include "implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement and opportunities created by the agreement," the Information Technology Agreement; the launch of the recently notified environmental goods agreement; monitoring and enforcement activities and future work of the WTO, the subcommittee said.
The Chinese government continues to jeopardize completion of an Information Technology Agreement expansion pact by excluding critical products from tariff exemption and demanding inappropriately long phase-outs for products its willing to concede, said Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committee leadership in a July 8 letter lambasting China on a number of trade fronts. The letter coincides with the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) currently underway in Beijing. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman urged China to broaden its concessions as he prepared to travel to Beijing for the summit (see 14070801). The letter was sent to several high-ranking Obama administration officials, including Froman.
Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
The State Department must immediately implement an aid compact with El Salvador despite the U.S. Trade Representative's concerns over an El Salvadorian government policy on seed procurement, said 16 Democratic House members in a recent letter to Secretary of State John Kerry. The procurement policy is part of the government’s food security efforts, said the letter. “El Salvador’s domestic food security program should neither impact the terms of the compact, nor should the U.S. use it to unduly pressure El Salvador,” said the letter, spearheaded by Reps. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., and Mike Honda, D-Calif. El Salvador's seed procurement policy promotes self-sufficiency by sourcing seeds from small-scale domestic producers, said dozens of agricultural, activist and other organizations in a July 3 letter to Kerry (here). “Furthermore, the State Department’s invocation of CAFTA demonstrates that our concerns about free trade agreements -- including unfair competition from subsidized U.S. agriculture and incursions into national sovereignty -- are well-founded, thus necessitating our continued opposition to CAFTA and its implementation.”
Legislation designed to create a national hiring standard for motor carriers would give increased safeguards to brokers and forwarders that coordinate the hiring of motor vehicles for the movement of cargo, said the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) in a July 1 letter to Rep. John Duncan, R-Tenn., the sponsor of the legislation. The bill, H.R. 4727, was introduced in May, and has three additional cosponsors. The measure would create a safe harbor from liability for shippers, brokers, forwarders and receivers as long as they verify each motor carrier they hire is registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, has obtained the minimum insurance, and has not been given an "unsatisfactory" rating.
Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
The Food and Drug Administration again denied charges that it aims to implement a ban on aging cheese on wood shelves, in a June 26 letter to Rep. Peter Welch, D-N.Y. The agency has backtracked in recent weeks on a pronouncement it made in January that asserted wood shelves do not comply with legal hygiene standards (see 14061118). Welch criticized the supposed ban on the use of wooden shelves, planning to tack on an amendment to House agriculture appropriations legislation to prohibit funds for enforcement of any ban. The House adjourned debate on the legislation on June 11 before Welch could file the amendment, and has not resumed consideration of the bill (see 14061220). “The focus in ensuring the safety of cheese should be on the overall hygienic practices and conditions in the cheesemaking facility and not on just one element, such as shelving,” said the letter, signed by FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine, Michael Taylor. “There is no requirement or prohibition in FDA’s regulations that specifically addresses wooden shelving.” The FDA issued a similar clarification on June 11 (see 14061219). The letter to Welch said equipment that contacts food must merely be “adequately cleanable” and “properly maintained.”
Congress should enact legislation that provides Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack the authority to “suspend indefinitely” country of origin labeling (COOL) regulations for muscle cuts of meat after final World Trade Organization (WTO) adjudication in the ongoing dispute with Canada and Mexico, said more than 60 agriculture, manufacturing and other organizations in a June 26 letter to House and Senate agriculture committee leaders. If the WTO sides with Canada and Mexico, the body would award the two countries the right to retaliate against U.S. products.