The Senate should promptly consider the nomination of Kevin McAleenan to serve as CBP commissioner, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore (here). “The Chamber encourages a swift vote on his nomination and stands ready to work with him as the next commissioner of CBP,” it said. The chamber’s letter follows an April letter to Hatch and Wyden from 13 associations expressing support for McAleenan’s nomination (see 1704250016). The Senate Finance Committee didn't comment.
Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:
Nearly all companies required to disclose whether they sourced four “conflict minerals” from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining countries did so in 2016, but they provided varying amounts of data, according to a Government Accountability Office report (here). Last year, 96 percent of companies followed their obligation to report the source of the information, pursuant to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) conflict minerals reporting rule, which covers tin, tantalum, gold and tungsten, the GAO said. The SEC announced earlier this month that it won’t enforce the requirements as it reviews how to proceed (see 1704100023).
The combined growth of e-commerce and small shipments is expected to be a major issue for intellectual property rights enforcement in coming years, ICE Intellectual Property Rights Center Acting Assistant Director Matthew Allen said in testimony provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee (here). The agency foresees the "e-commerce direct-to-consumer business model that utilize[s] express mail and postal small shipments to become increasingly challenging in the years ahead" because "there are numerous enforcement weaknesses in these environments that counterfeiters exploit,” Allen told lawmakers. Three-dimensional printing and virtual currency will also present more IP problems going forward, he said. “ICE expects that intellectual property criminals will continue to use these technologies, and others we have not yet seen, in furtherance of their criminal activity,” Allen said.
The Senate Finance Committee on April 25 unanimously voted to advance President Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert Lighthizer to serve as U.S. trade representative to the Senate floor for a final confirmation vote. The committee also unanimously approved a legislative waiver (here) to exempt Lighthizer from legal requirements barring individuals who have represented foreign entities from serving as USTR or deputy USTR (see 1702070047). The affirmative votes came after committee Republicans agreed to work with Democrats toward a path forward for the Miners Protection Act, which would guarantee healthcare and pension funding for retired coal miners and widows.
Thirteen associations expressed support for the confirmation of CBP commissioner nominee Kevin McAleenan in a letter (here) to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore. The groups said McAleenan is fully familiar with the ongoing rollout of ACE and regulations drafted pursuant to the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act. The groups requested that the Senate “expedite” his confirmation process to “solidify the political leadership” of the agency at a time when significant trade enforcement and policy are central to the overall White House agenda. A spokeswoman for the committee's GOP majority didn't comment, but Hatch noted the CBP commissioner vacancy during a committee meeting April 25, and asked for the Trump administration to submit nominees for open trade positions promptly, pledging to move them through his committee "quickly."
The Senate on April 24 voted to confirm Sonny Perdue to serve as agriculture secretary. The Senate Agriculture Committee on March 30 voted to clear the nomination of Perdue for floor consideration. In a floor statement shortly before the Senate confirmation vote, committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said (here) that Perdue will lead both the Senate and House to a "productive trade policy" and economic recovery in rural and small-town areas of the country.
Congress should preserve the Labor Department’s grant funding for the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) “Better Work” program in supplemental fiscal year 2017 and full-year fiscal year 2018 spending legislation, as Haiti HOPE II duty-free treatment for apparel imports is contingent on the program, the American Apparel and Footwear Association told Senate appropriators. In a letter (here) to Senate Appropriations Labor Subcommittee Chairman Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., AAFA noted that Section 15403 of the trade preferences legislation requires implementation of an ILO “Better Work” program in the Haitian apparel industry for duty-free import access to take place. President Donald Trump’s FY 2018 budget blueprint proposed to nix grants including those provided for “Better Work” through Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (see 1703160022). “ILAB grants and guidance make ILO Better Work work to improve the lives of workers in Better Work countries, assist in the economic development of our poorest neighbors and strategic allies, and level the playing field for American companies and American workers,” AAFA wrote. The Senate Appropriations Committee didn’t comment.
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., voiced optimism during a radio interview (here) that agriculture secretary nominee Sonny Perdue would advocate for maintaining robust agricultural trade with Mexico. “The thing that we need to do on trade, in particular, is we need to have a very vocal voice in places like Mexico saying our American producers still want to trade with Mexico, and they’re interested in maintaining those long-term relationships,” she said. “And if we don’t have that from the top down, I think we’re going to have some tough times ahead in agricultural trade.” The Senate Agriculture Committee on March 30 voted to clear Perdue for a full Senate vote. Heitkamp expressed concern about the U.S.'s ability to open up agricultural trade with Japan, after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would have opened that market to more U.S. food exports. She noted a recent conversation with U.S. trade representative nominee Robert Lighthizer. "He believes in doing bilaterals," she said. "But he's going to have a tough time putting agriculture on the table with Japan, which I think is the first place he's going to go."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on April 11 pushed bipartisan legislation, the International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response by Detecting Incoming Contraband with Technology (INTERDICT) Act, which would provide CBP with more tools and resources to detect and seize fentanyl shipped through mail and express carriers, his office said in a statement (here). Overseas labs making the synthetic opioids are taking advantage of CBP’s “limited capabilities” to screen international packages, it said. Suppliers of the drug often mislabel shipments or conceal them in legitimate goods to avoid CBP detection, the statement says. Schumer highlighted the March-introduced legislation in a speech in Schenectady, and noted that Mexico and China are major sources for fentanyl and fentanyl precursor chemicals, respectively.