The United States Council for International Business supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership and urged Congress to approve the deal, the trade group said in a news release (here). Among the major provisions, the TPP would eliminate 98 percent of tariffs in its covered region and set new disciplines on state-owned enterprises, including limitations on sovereign immunity, non-commercial assistance, and increased transparency requirements, it said. “While we support TPP, we also believe that it could be improved by addressing provisions in the agreement that limit or exclude protections for certain sectors,” USCIB’s statement reads. “We urge the Administration to work to address these limitations before submitting the final agreement to Congress. Dealing with these concerns would avoid any possible negative precedents for future agreements and facilitate consideration of TPP under Trade Promotion Authority.”
The State Department should address firearms and ammunition within the export control reform initiative, said Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry (here). Kelly said "prompt action on the movement of eligible, dual use items classified under categories I, II, III of the U.S. Munitions List (USML) to the Commerce Control List (CCL)" is needed. While almost all other categories are addressed in the Obama administration's export control reform program, "this costly delay harms U.S. firearms and ammunition manufacturers by weakening their ability to compete in the global market," he said. Kelly requested proposed rules to implement export control reform and for "thoughtful consideration" of the views of firearm owners and companies.
Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:
The Congressional Research Service recently outlined the Trans-Pacific Partnership in a report (here). The report includes brief descriptions of various issues, such as agricultural products and e-commerce, that are in the agreement.
A final transportation reauthorization bill ought to include provisions from the Port Performance Act, a bill that mandates evaluation on a set of port metrics, a group of lawmakers said in a Nov. 18 letter (here). The House members, including Reps. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Greg Walden, R-Ore., sent the letter to the leadership of the House and Senate committees for transportation. Following a short-term extension (see 1511230019), Congress has until Dec. 4 to resolve differences between Senate and House of Representatives versions of the surface transportation reauthorization bills through a legislative conference.
The Senate Commerce Committee approved the Reinforcing American-Made Products Act of 2015 on Nov. 18, it said in a news release (here). The legislation (here) would "supersede any provisions of the law of any State relating to the extent to which a product is introduced, delivered for introduction, sold, advertised, or offered for sale in interstate or foreign commerce with a ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ or ‘Made in America’ label, or the equivalent thereof, in order to represent that such product was in whole or substantial part of domestic origin.’" The role of state law on such issues came up recently as several lawsuits, including class actions against Macy’s, Lands’ End and Nordstrom, were filed by consumers alleging the retailers violated California law by selling “Made in the U.S.A.” apparel that incorporates minor foreign-made components (see 1504100014, 1411030049 and 1506220017).
President Barack Obama signed a short extension for programs funded through the Highway Trust Fund (here) on Nov. 20. Congress will now have until Dec. 4 to resolve differences between Senate and House of Representatives versions of the surface transportation reauthorization bills. "Drafting of the conference report would be completed during the Thanksgiving holiday recess," said the American Association of Port Authorities (here). "There are still fifteen unresolved issues that will need to be addressed by the Members upon their return to Washington after the holiday, one of which is whether or not port performance metrics will be included in the final conference agreement." A group of trade associations, including several customs groups, recently wrote to lawmakers and asked that port performance provisions from the Senate be included within a final version (here).
Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., was named chairman of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas (here). Reichert takes over for Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, who recently lost his bid to lead the Ways and Means Committee (see 1511040063). Tiberi was named chairman of the Health Subcommittee.
Lawmakers introduced the following trade-related bill since International Trade Today's last legislative update:
House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Sander Levin, D-Mich., and other committee Democrats will hold a series of forums to consider Trans-Pacific Partnership issues, said Levin (here). The first such forum is scheduled for Nov. 17 and will focus on the environment, he said. Levin's staff also released an issue analysis paper (here) ahead of the forum.