Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) asked Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in a July 31 letter to review an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) decision that exempts importers of tar sands oils from paying into a trust fund reserved to pay for oil spill cleanups. Crude oil importers are required to pay a 8-cents-per-barrel excise tax, which is the largest revenue source for the trust fund, he said. An IRS decision in May 2011 said tar sands oil is not crude oil, and therefore importers of tar sands oil don't have to pay into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. Markey said the IRS decision was based off an "outdated" 1980 congressional report that said the term 'crude oil' didn't include tar sands oils. The IRS decision was a result of "inadequate understanding" of terminology used by regulatory and industry bodies, he said.

The following are the trade-related hearings scheduled July 30-Aug. 3:

House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) was diagnosed with a "highly treatable and curable type of non-Hodgkins lymphoma," he said July 28 in a press release. "My treatment will take place every three weeks over the next few months," he said. "It will consist of a series of chemotherapy sessions. In between treatments I will continue my work as a United States Representative for Michigan’s Fourth District and as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Thankfully my health is otherwise excellent and my doctors and I expect a full recovery and cure."

The Senate Commerce Committee scheduled an executive session scheduled for 2:30 p.m. July 31 in 253 Russell Building to, among other things, consider the nomination of William Doyle to be a commissioner at the Federal Maritime Commission.

The House Ways and Means Committee scheduled a July 26 markup on legislation granting Russia permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status and repealing legislation that limits trade with Communist countries. The bill, HR-6156, is (here). The Senate Finance Committee gave its approval to similar legislation July 18. (See ITT's Online Archives 12071912 for a summary of the Senate Finance bill.)

The House didn't hold a scheduled July 24 vote on HR-5986, a trade bill that would extend African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) provisions and extend Burmese import restrictions. The House bill was scheduled for consideration under suspension of the rules, meaning a markup from the House Ways and Means Committee, where the bill originated, won't be required. No reason for the delay was given.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said the House would consider HR-5986, a trade bill that mirrors Senate legislation, July 24. The House bill will be considered under suspension of the rules, meaning a markup from the House Ways and Means Committee, where the bill originated, won't be required. A similar Senate bill, S-3326, was recently approved by the Senate Finance Committee during a markup.

The following are the trade-related hearings scheduled July 23-27:

A group of ten Senators said the U.S. shouldn't allow Japan to enter Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations due to the country's unfair automobile trade practices. The Senators wrote President Barack Obama in a July 17 letter, saying the "history of U.S.-Japanese trade relations gives us little confidence that American negotiators can achieve an agreement that would create a truly level playing field between the two countries in the short timeframe of TPP negotiations." As such "we believe it would be a mistake to invite Japan to join the TPP at this time," they said.

House lawmakers slammed the Chinese government for facilitating infringement and theft of U.S. intellectual property online, during a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing July 19. The Chinese government has "approved and coordinated" theft of U.S. IP and the American government has been "cowardly" in confronting the threat, said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif. "We've been played for suckers over the years, we've been played as fools" as the Chinese government has only become more "brazen in their theft of wealth that should be going to our people." Committee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., urged the executive branch to negotiate enforceable agreements with foreign governments that will curb IP theft such as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The trade agreement would require parties --- which include the U.S., Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Peru, Malaysia and Vietnam --- to ensure they have effective enforcement procedures against online trademark, copyright and other rights infringements. Ranking Member Howard Berman, D-Calif., said the U.S. has an opportunity to successfully negotiate the TPP, which he called an "ambitious agreement" with Asian countries to protect U.S. IP. "It is critical that this agreement reflect and prioritize the contribution of the U.S. IP industries to the U.S. economy by including strong protections for IP and robust enforcement provisions," he said. Heritage Foundation Senior Research Fellow Derek Scissors agreed that the TPP offers a "great possibility" for curbing Chinese IP theft and urged lawmakers to pursue other lines of attack as well. "There are ways for the U.S. to change its laws to make it more difficult and uncomfortable" for Chinese infringers, he said. David Hirschmann, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Intellectual Property Center, said it's crucial to focus on the Web where stolen U.S. IP is primarily being distributed. "One thing we can do is to begin to work with the world to find pro-Internet freedom rule of law approaches to address distribution on the Internet," he said. House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have previously denounced the TPP as a threat to Internet freedom, and Wyden introduced a bill in May to clarify the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's duty to share trade agreement information with all members of Congress.