The administration is prioritizing trade liberalization over public health in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations with regard to tobacco policy, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said in a Sept. 12 letter to the U.S. Trade Representative. Brown urged the administration to include a policy that enables specific countries in the potential TPP agreement to regulate tobacco. U.S. health groups submitted a letter to the administration on Sept. 11 pressing for a similar policy (see 13091221). Last year, the USTR proposed a “safe harbor” provision that would have significantly limited efforts by Big Tobacco companies to challenge anti-smoking efforts under trade rules created by the TPP,” said Brown. “Last month, the Administration changed course, arguing that the U.S. can best balance the priorities of public health advocates and key TPP stakeholders by not excluding any one product, including tobacco, from rules of the trade agreement.”
New lobbyist registrations on trade-related issues include:
Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
The House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., introduced a Continuing Resolution (CR) Sept. 10 to prevent a government shutdown at the end of Fiscal Year 2013 on Sept. 30. The CR would extend operational funding for all federal agencies, programs and services until Dec. 15. “A Continuing Resolution is necessary to stop a government-wide shut down that would halt critical government programs and services, destabilize our economy, and put the safety and well-being of our citizens at risk,” said Rogers, according to a press release. Among other provisions, the bill would allow "funding flexibility for Customs and Border Protection to maintain current staffing levels and border security operations, and to sustain Immigration and Customs Enforcement staffing and immigration activities."
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) decision-making process that approved the Smithfield Foods acquisition by the Chinese food company Shuanghui International remains unclear, said Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., on Sept. 6. Stabenow said she's unaware if issues of food security or China’s protectionist trade barriers were considered. Stabenow pledged that her committee would continue to examine the effectiveness of the CFIUS decision-making process in acquisitions. “It’s troubling that taxpayers have received no assurances that these critical issues have been taken into account in transferring control of one of America’s largest food producers to a Chinese competitor with a spotty record on food safety,” said Sen. Stabenow. The acquisition was approved on Sept. 6 (see 13090922).
New lobbyist registrations on trade-related issues include:
U.S. Senators Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., plan to push legislation that would prevent shippers from skirting certain port fees through the use of Canadian and Mexican ports, they said Aug. 15. They said the legislation will replace the Harbor Maintenance Tax, which the Senators said has been inefficiently collected, with a new Maritime Goods Movement User Fee. The objective of the legislation, entitled the Maritime Goods Movement Act, is to improve port infrastructure and maintenance.
The Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Sander Levin, D-Mich., traveled to Bangladesh Aug. 19 for a three-day visit following the Obama Administration’s withdrawal of Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) status to the country, said a committee press release (here). The lawmaker intends to meet with high-ranking government officials and non-government organization officials and to visit garment factories, it said.
Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, are "copyright cowards" for calling for strong intellectual property protections in trade agreements and being proponents of trade promotion authority, which "empowers the White House to unilaterally negotiate and sign trade agreements," the Electronic Frontier Foundation said in a blog post. The senators' offices did not respond to requests for comment. Trade promotion authority "places a time-limit on Congressional debates on trade treaties, prevents Congress from proposing amendments, and reduces Congress to an up-or-down, yes or no vote on the entire treaty," leading to a situation where "radical changes to digital policies are controlled almost entirely by the executive," the group said. The post applauded Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., for taking "a stand" against Michael Froman’s confirmation as the U.S. Trade Representative "due to lack of assurances from him during his nomination hearings" that he would "improve transparency in the negotiating process."
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator Robert Menendez, D-N.J., departed the U.S. on Aug.12 for a nine-day diplomatic tour through East Asia, and arrived in Japan the following day. The tour will usher Senator Menendez through Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and China. Senator Menendez is slated to meet with the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, Japan Railway officials, the American Chamber of Commerce in South Korea and the American Chamber of Commerce in China.