A U.S.-China Bilateral Investment Treaty will face tough resistance on Capitol Hill unless China delivers on sweeping economic reform and brings its trade policies in line with World Trade Organization commitments, said Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Richard Burr, R-N.C. in a letter (here) to President Barack Obama on Sept. 23. China’s anti-monopoly law and forced technology transfer policies violate those WTO commitments and obstruct U.S. access to the Chinese investment market, the lawmakers said. The letter criticized recent Chinese currency intervention and its continued focus on an export-driven economy. “China’s state ownership and control of key industrial sectors – including steel, glass, paper, aluminum, and tires – has led to global overcapacity in each of these sectors and had major consequences for U.S. workers and the U.S. market. China’s failure to abide by market principles is worsening,” said the letter. “Chinese government promises to close excess factory capacity and scale back production in line with market-driven demand have gone unfulfilled.” President Xi Jinping promised significant market reforms in a speech in Seattle on Sept. 22 (see 1509230015).
Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., floated a heavily-anticipated continuing resolution on Sept. 22 to extend funding for the federal government through Dec. 11, but his Democratic counterpart on the committee, ranking member Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., immediately lashed into the bill as a "political stunt." The Senate is set for a procedural vote to advance the stopgap measure on Sept. 24, said the office of Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas. The current authorization for funding will expire at the end of fiscal year 2015 on Sept. 30 at midnight. The bill, H.J.Res.61 (here), bans funding for Planned Parenthood and affiliates for one year unless the groups pledge to not perform or fund abortions. A series of recent videos on the public health organization has produced an outcry among lawmakers (here). The bill would keep CBP and all other trade agencies at fiscal year 2015 funding levels. The 2013 federal government shutdown didn't drastically impact cargo movement for most products, but trade-related agencies severely cut back on operations (see 13101002).
Lawmakers introduced the following trade-related bills since International Trade Today's last legislative update:
House Reps. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, and Steve Pearce, R-N.M., introduced legislation in recent days to require the Department of Homeland Security to submit a report to Congress on the conditions of U.S. ports of entry. The bill, HR-3576 (here), is primarily designed to create an independent body, which would be called the Department of Homeland Security Border Oversight Commission, to monitor and evaluate immigration policies and practices. That part of the legislation directs the president and Congress to collaborate to appoint representatives from border regions, including CBP or Border Patrol agents, to make up the commission. The bill creates a new DHS ombudsman for border and immigration concerns, as well as a number of other administrative changes and training reform.
The U.S. and India continue to build stronger trade ties, but the Indian government needs to do far more to cut tariff and non-tariff barriers for U.S. exports, said congressional leaders on the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees. The letter, sent on Sept. 18, precedes the U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue this week in Washington. Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and ranking member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., all signed on in a rare show of solidarity.
The Chinese government continues to sluggishly approve regulatory changes to allow more U.S. biotechnology-derived crops to enter the Chinese market, and President Barack Obama should press the need for speedier approvals during his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of September, said Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., a Ways and Means trade subcommittee member, in a letter that is still circulating in the House. Smith’s staff released the letter to International Trade Today.
Lawmakers introduced the following trade-related bill since International Trade Today's last legislative update:
Recent moves by several Asian countries signal there may be a growing “pattern of competitive devaluation” in the Asia-Pacific region, and the U.S. should therefore include “meaningful and concrete” currency measures in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, said a bipartisan group of seven senators in a Sept. 15 letter (here) to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.
Lawmakers introduced the following trade-related bills since International Trade Today's last legislative update:
The House passed legislation in a partisan vote on Sept. 11 to block the White House from lifting sanctions on Iran until Jan. 21, 2017, one day after the next U.S. president will be inaugurated. That sanctions relief is a fundamental component of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the deal struck between the U.S., other world powers and Iran in mid-July (see 1507160020). The JCPOA aims to curb Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon in exchange for sanctions relief. Only two House Democrats voted in favor of the bill, HR-3460 (here), while zero Republicans opposed it. The U.S. sanctions relief is outlined in articles four through seven in the JCPOA (here). President Barack Obama has vowed to veto legislation related to the Iran deal. Obama has already garnered support from enough Democratic senators to prevent a veto-proof majority in that chamber. Senate Democrats blocked a procedural vote to open debate on a bill to disapprove the Iran deal on Sept. 10. The House also voted to shoot down the deal as a whole on Sept. 11.