The Senate confirmed Court of International Trade nominees Miller Baker and Timothy Reif, the Senate Republican Cloakroom said in a tweet. The pair were first nominated last year but had to be renominated in January (see 1901230002). International Trade Commission nominees Randolph Stayin and Amy Karpel were also confirmed.
After a congressional delegation was blocked from visiting a Goodyear plant in Mexico that had a wildcat strike last year, four of the delegation members -- including House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. -- have asked the U.S.-headquartered company to tell them what proportion of that plant's tires are exported to the U.S., and "what effect this will have on existing U.S. operations." Blumenauer, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., and Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., told Goodyear they were disappointed they were not allowed to tour the plant. Instead they interviewed some of the 57 Goodyear workers who were fired after the strike. They asked Goodyear to respond to the fired workers' allegations that they had inadequate wages, inadequate protective gear, substandard training, and that there was discrimination and harassment, and that they were fired illegally in reprisals for their activism.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., say an overvalued dollar and other countries' efforts to devalue their currencies created the trade deficit that meant "90,000 factories have closed down, thousands of family farms have gone bankrupt, and millions of manufacturing workers have lost their jobs." The Midwestern senators have introduced a bill, called the Competitive Dollar for Jobs and Prosperity Act, that aims to fix that. They announced the bill -- along with support from Trump allies like the Coalition for a Prosperous America -- on July 31.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer addressed the recent end to India's Generalized System of Preferences benefits eligibility (see 1906050043) in written responses to two senators on the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked about GSP and the possibility of Section 301 actions against India at a June 18 hearing at which Lighthizer appeared. Lighthizer replied, "A USTR team ... recently visited New Delhi to meet with a variety of Indian government officials in an attempt to make progress on the broad range of trade barriers we have highlighted. We remain committed to finding solutions to the myriad of trade concerns we have with India. I hope that the Government of India demonstrates a comparable commitment to resolving our concerns."
Although the labor witness at the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the new NAFTA said labor leaders "remain optimistic about the ability to resolve the issues" with the rewrite, Michael Wessel also said they "will not hesitate to oppose" ratification if they are not satisfied. Wessel, who is the staff chairman to the Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy, said the current rewrite, known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, "is not good enough."
A Democrat from Texas and one from the San Diego area led a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging a vote on the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement, as the new NAFTA is called, before the end of 2019. Rep. Colin Allred, who defeated a Republican incumbent in the Dallas suburbs, and Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., sent the letter July 26.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., who led a trip to Mexico with nine other House members last week, said that everyone came away impressed with Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Blumenauer said that in his opinion, the entire Mexican Cabinet is clearly committed to changing labor laws in Mexico so that its workers can be better paid. "Lots of money was made [from NAFTA], but workers in the United States, workers in Mexico, are no better off in inflation-adjusted terms," he said.
Several leaders of the New Democrat Coalition met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer late July 25, and told him that they want him to treat negotiations with the working group on the new NAFTA with a sense of urgency. "Congress members are starting to say, 'Let's get down to brass tacks and figure out how specifically these issues can be addressed," said Rep. Derek Kilmer, chairman of the New Democrats. Kilmer, D-Wash., who described the meeting in a short hallway interview after it concluded, said Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Texas, and Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., also met with Lighthizer.
Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., along with Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, are circulating a letter asking other members of Congress to urge the U.S. trade representative to remove olive oil from the list of retaliatory tariffs in response to European subsidies to Airbus.
Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., recently introduced a bill that would require foreign manufacturers that export to the U. S. to establish registered agents in the U.S who are authorized to accept legal papers that start a civil lawsuit against the company. He previously tried to get a similar bill passed in 2015 (see 1508120069), when it had 35 co-sponsors, and in 2013 (see 13051403).