Ohio's two senators are concerned that an existing CBP rule may interfere with attempts to halt customs duty evasion by foreign companies. Sens. Rob Portman, a Republican, and Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, told Acting CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan that an agency interim final rule (from August 2016) to implement Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) provisions of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act will undermine CBP efforts to stop duty evasion, and recommended that the agency release a revised rule. Among the concerns detailed in a letter (here) to McAleenan were that the rule doesn’t establish an administrative protective order process for evasion cases, and that the rule limits authorized evasion proceedings to too narrow a group of stakeholders, or "parties to the investigation."
The House Homeland Security Committee invited the Airforwarders Association (AfA) to testify before its Transportation and Protective Security Subcommittee on July 25, AfA said in an email to members. The committee asked AfA to be prepared to answer questions on topics including technology, the current air cargo threat landscape, the CBP/Transportation Security Administration Air Cargo Advanced Screening (ACAS) initiative, and ACAS language in the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act of 2017 (here), approved by the full committee on June 28. That bill would require DHS to issue a final rule within 180 days of enactment to implement ACAS, to include electronic submission to DHS of data elements for targeting cargo, including “appropriate elements of shipment level data,” according to the legislative text.
The Senate Finance Committee at 10:15 a.m. on July 13 will hold a confirmation hearing for CBP commissioner nominee Kevin McAleenan, the committee said (here). President Donald Trump sent the nomination of McAleenan, currently acting CBP commissioner, to the Senate in May (see 1705220074). After initial signs of support for the nomination from the trade community, two lobbyists on July 7 said they haven't gotten any sense that McAleenan will face substantial opposition during his Senate confirmation process. A retail lobbyist said Capitol Hill hasn't noticeably indicated any opposition to McAleenan, adding that the retail industry will release a support letter for the nomination next week. Another trade lobbyist said he didn't hear any reservations about McAleenan in recent meetings with committee staff. "My inclination is to discourage questions being provided the committee by the trade, in the interests of his getting confirmed quickly, without CBP first having to answer a raft of questions," the lobbyist said, adding that he believes the trade is largely confident in and comfortable with McAleenan's nomination. A Senate Finance Committee majority spokeswoman confirmed the committee has completed its internal vetting process for McAleenan. The committee's Democratic minority didn't comment.
Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:
Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., on July 4 called on “every nation of conscience” to discontinue “all finance and trade” with North Korea, except for limited humanitarian purposes, the same day that country’s government successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, according to a statement from Gardner’s office (here). “The United Nations Security Council should immediately endorse such an embargo in a new resolution, and make it binding on all nations,” Gardner said. Gardner is also drafting bipartisan legislation prohibiting any entity engaging in business with North Korea “or its enablers” from using the U.S. financial system. Gardner applauded the Trump administration for announcing sanctions last week on entities aiding North Korea, including a Chinese financial institution (see 1706300022), but added that that should be merely a “first step.” He said China can inflict “serious economic damage” on North Korea to move the nation toward peaceful denuclearization, and suggested a shift in U.S.-China relations if China doesn’t ratchet up its pressure.
House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said he’s “a little surprised” by President Donald Trump’s June 30 statement that the U.S. and South Korea are considering renegotiations of the two countries' free trade agreement, especially “when there is such urgency for us to address America's absence in the larger Asia-Pacific region.” Trump recently said such discussions came up during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in (see 1706300027). Under Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), the executive branch must meet with Ways and Means, Finance, as well as the House and Senate advisory groups on negotiations, before submitting formal notice of intent for trade negotiations at least 90 days prior to direct talks beginning.
Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:
Congressional Steel Caucus leaders Tim Murphy, R-Pa., and Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., led a letter to President Donald Trump calling for broad and lengthy application of any Section 232 remedies for the steel industry, Murphy’s office announced June 28 (here). Any remedy should also avoid exceptions that could be exploited by foreign producer dumping or duty circumvention, the lawmakers wrote. “The domestic steel industry’s ability to provide material to the military, electrical steel for the grid or drilling equipment for the energy industry may be fatally undermined if foreign countries and producers are allowed to destroy other lines of business that are critical to American steel producers’ economic viability,” Reps. Murphy and Visclosky said. “Taking away one or two legs of a chair makes the entire platform unusable. A remedy must encompass the entirety of the American steel industry in order to safeguard our national security.” The letter was also sent to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Defense Secretary James Mattis. Ross has a self-imposed deadline of June 30 to announce any remedial actions pursuant to his department's ongoing national security investigation into steel imports.
The Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act (SITSA) (here) would help CBP track subject narcotics shipped through express consignments, across ports of entry, and through mail facilities, CBP Acting Executive Assistant Commissioner Robert Perez told a House Judiciary Committee panel June 27. The bill, introduced June 8 by Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., and referred to the Judiciary and Energy and Commerce committees the same day, would add a new scheduling category, “A,” under the Controlled Substances Act for synthetic drugs, and make importation of those narcotics illegal, with a few exceptions. In terms of imports and exports, the bill would generally subject Schedule A substances to the same requirements and scrutiny as Schedule I and II drugs under the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act. Leading House Judiciary Democrats expressed concern about the bill being misguided, arguing that it would give the U.S. attorney general too much authority in determining narcotics to add to Schedule A.
The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on June 28 approved fiscal year 2018 spending legislation (here) that rejects a Trump administration request to retransfer catfish inspection responsibilities from the Food Safety and Inspection Service to the Food and Drug Administration. The bill would also set guidelines for the Agriculture Department in finalizing an agreement to admit Chinese chicken imports into the U.S. USDA’s May budget request proposed to transfer catfish inspection responsibilities back to the FDA in FY18, and zeroed out funding for the FSIS Siluriformes Inspection Program (see 1705250030). Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., praised the bill’s omission of language directing any transfer of those responsibilities, noting that USDA “does continuous inspection, rather than just the two percent that’s inspected by” FDA.