Lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee said they plan to introduce HR-6156, legislation that would grant permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Russia. The Senate Finance Committee approved a similar bill July 18. While a review of the Senate Finance Committee’s actual legislative text is still pending, the bill is expected to mirror that Committee’s version of Russia PNTR, said the committee in a press release. Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) also said the Committee will mark up the legislation next week. The bill will be introduced by Camp, Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-Mich.), and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) and Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas). (See ITT's Online Archives 12071912 for summary of the Senate Finance bill.)
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee scheduled a hearing titled "Economic Statecraft: Increasing American Jobs Through Greater U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment (S-2215, The Increasing American Jobs Through Greater Exports to Africa Act of 2012)." The July 25 hearing will include as witnesses Fred Hochberg, president of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, Elizabeth Littlefield, CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and Francisco Sanchez, Under Secretary for International Trade at the Commerce Department. The text of S-2215 is (here).
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rep. Michael Michaud (D-Maine) are among lawmakers pushing the Obama administration to keep footwear tariffs, as negotiations continue on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, they said in press releases. The Maine legislators joined employees of sneaker-maker New Balance July 18 to make their case in Washington, DC. Michaud said U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk has accepted an invitation to visit a New Balance factory in Maine this fall.
Members of the House IP Subcommittee offered suggestions Wednesday during a hearing to curb the rising number of patent disputes at the International Trade Commission (ITC). Subcommittee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., noted that the number of ITC complaints has nearly tripled the annual average for the past 10 years and "bogus lawsuits" continue to proliferate despite the passage of patent reform via the America Invents Act. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., described the increasing number of patent disputes at the ITC as a "shakedown situation."
The Senate Finance Committee approved legislation July 18 that would give permanent normal trade relations status to Russia and repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which has been in place since 1974 to restrict trade with communist countries. Text of the bill is (here). The committee considered several pieces of trade legislation during the July 18 markup.
The House Homeland Security Committee Counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittee scheduled a field hearing titled "Are the Department of Homeland Security’s International Agreements Ensuring Actionable Intelligence to Combat Threats to the U.S. Homeland?" The hearing is scheduled for July 30 in Buffalo, NY.
A group of 73 freshman GOP lawmakers in the House of Representatives gave their support for giving Russia permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) in a letter to President Barack Obama July 13. Without the PNTR, "U.S. exporters and their workers will not be able to take advantage of this market," they said. House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) has said he plans to introduce a PNTR bill.
The following are the trade-related hearings scheduled July 16-20:
The House of Representatives voted to approve HR-4402, The National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act, meant to lessen duplicative reviews, frivolous lawsuits and onerous regulations that can hold up U.S. mining projects for more than a decade. The bill is also hoped to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign countries for raw mineral ingredients.
The FTC and Department of Justice took to Congress July 11 to express concern about technology companies with standard-essential patents (SEPs) running to the International Trade Commission for exclusion orders. An exclusion order directs CBP to bar infringing articles from entry into the country. The DOJ Antitrust Division is particularly concerned with standard-essential patents involving mobile devices, because wireless devices depend on many standards for interoperability, he said.