The following are the trade-related hearings scheduled from July 9-13:
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) released a discussion draft of the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act (FARRM) on July 5.
Responses from Chinese telecommunications equipment companies ZTE and Huawei were due to the House Intelligence Committee July 3. Committee Chair Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Ranking Member Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., asked the two companies to answer more than a dozen detailed questions about the companies' corporate and financial connections with the Chinese government. Among the questions were requests for information on Chinese government subsidies.
The House Ways and Means Committee posted some 1,100 comments related to the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) June 29. The public comments are in response to the 1,200 House bills introduced for inclusion within the MTB. The MTB is generally passed every congress, suspending tariffs on certain products. The Senate Finance committee has also posted some public comments on bills introduced in the Senate.
The Senate Finance Committee voted June 29 to favorably report the nomination of Meredith Broadbent as a member of the U.S. International Trade Commission. Broadbent is nominated for a term on the ITC expiring June 16, 2017.
The Senate Finance Committee scheduled a vote for June 29 to consider the nomination of Meredith Broadbent as a member of the U.S. International Trade Commission. Broadbent is nominated for a term on the ITC expiring June 16, 2017.
The House approved HR-4251, the Securing Maritime Activities through Risk-based Targeting (SMART) for Port Security Act , June 28 under suspension of the rules. The legislation is meant to authorize, enhance, and reform port security programs through increased efficiency and risk-based coordination within the Department of Homeland Security. Text of the bill, which still needs Senate approval, is here.
Saying there may be “needless secrecy and over-classification of documents” relating to the ongoing negotiations over a potential Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement (TPP-FTA), more than 130 members of Congress wrote U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk urging him to “engage in broader and deeper consultations with members of the full range of committees of Congress whose jurisdiction touches on the wide-ranging issues involved.” The USTR should also ensure “there is ample opportunity for Congress to have input on critical policies that will have broad ramifications for years to come,” they said.
Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) voiced concern with delay in the screening of all in-bound cargo containers in a June 27 Op-Ed in TheNew York Times. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently confirmed it would delay the effective date for 100-percent scanning of incoming maritime cargo containers for at least two years beyond the original 2012 deadline. DHS didn't respond to a request for comment on the Op-Ed.
The Senate on June 26 passed the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, (S-3187), which reauthorizes for five years Food and Drug Administration (FDA) user fees for FDA drug review processes. The legislation would direct the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to work with CBP to develop "regulations to establish good importer practices that specify the measures an importer shall take to ensure imported drugs are in compliance with the requirements of this Act." The legislation, which was approved by the Senate by a vote of 92 to 4, now goes to President Obama for his signature.