The House Ways and Means Committee will hear testimony from Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew during the upcoming trade hearing in the afternoon of April 22, the committee said (here). The Senate Finance Committee held two hearings on April 16 with only government witnesses (see 1504170024). U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman is notably missing from the witness panel at the House hearing. He is currently in Vietnam, a USTR spokesman said. USTR didn't announce a stop-over in Vietnam on Froman's way back to the U.S. from Japan (see 1504200001). The committee will then proceed to a markup the next day on the four trade bills to emerge from months of Capitol Hill negotiations (here).
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, predicted a “strong bipartisan vote in favor" of Trade Promotion Authority and the advancement of the other three major trade bills, at the outset of a committee trade markup on April 22. The committee, however, postponed the markup to a later time in the afternoon of April 22, around 4 p.m., following an objection raised by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on the Senate floor.
Lawmakers introduced the following trade-related bills since International Trade Today's last legislative update:
President Barack Obama will veto Trade Promotion Authority if Trade Adjustment Assistance doesn't also make it to his desk, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on April 20. "We believe that these kinds of TAA proposals are an important priority when it comes to our overall approach to trade policy, and we’re going to fight to ensure that they’re included in this broader package," said Earnest. The last time Congress passed TPA in 2002, lawmakers added TAA into the actual TPA bill. Both chambers of Congress therefore had to vote on both pieces of legislation at the same time (here). Following the Senate Finance Committee hearing on April 16, ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he, Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., agreed to pass both TPA and TAA on the same day to ensure TAA is also passed (see 1504170024). Finance and Ways and Means members both introduced TPA and TAA on April 16.
The U.S. labor movement does not oppose trade in a wide range of circumstances, but Congress should rally to defeat Trade Promotion Authority to prevent the U.S. from entering into the costly free trade agreements the Obama administration is currently negotiating, said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in an April 21 Senate Finance Committee hearing on trade. The AFL-CIO has previously supported the U.S.-Jordan free trade agreement, the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Generalized System of Preferences, Trumka said, in defense of his support for sound trade policy.
The recently introduced Generalized System of Preferences renewal bill would likely retroactively cover all products, except imports from Russia and Bangladesh, filed as GSP-eligible since expiration of the program on July 31, 2013 , said a number of trade experts. Based on an initial reading of the language of the legislation, the bill seems to apply GSP benefits retroactively regardless of the date of liquidation or reliquidation of an entry during the lapse, they said, while reserving total judgment because of the complexity of legislative language.
Senate Finance Committee member Bob Casey, D-Pa., voiced opposition to Trade Promotion Authority in a statement on April 16 (here). The bill would “pave the way” for U.S. negotiators to lock down the Trans-Pacific Partnership, said Casey, referring to that pact as “another NAFTA-style deal that costs jobs and hurts Pennsylvania’s economy.” Trade experts widely say TPA is needed to lock down TPP. In the statement, Casey said U.S. trade policy needs to focus directly on middle class wages, job growth and strengthening U.S. manufacturing. “Trade Promotion Authority legislation does none of these things,” he said. Casey is one of the twelve Democrats on the 26-member Finance Committee. Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is aiming to mark up TPA, alongside other trade bills, in the coming days (see 1504160023). But first Hatch will convene another trade hearing on April 21. The legislation needs only a simple majority to pass committee, and that vote can take place following a markup. At that point, the legislation can be sent to the Senate floor.
The Department of Agriculture has exhausted all administrative options at its disposal to bring country-of-origin labeling requirements for meat products into compliance with World Trade Organization rules, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack during the initial April 16, Senate Finance Committee hearing on trade. The U.S. last appealed in November the WTO’s decision to side with Canada and Mexico in the long-running dispute, and a final judgment is due in mid-May (see 1503090010). “Absent a winning of the appeal, we’re in a situation where there’s a conflict between the law and what the WTO says is inappropriate, which creates the opportunity for retaliation,” said Vilsack at the hearing, confirming the WTO takes issues with the segregation mandates in U.S. law. “We just can’t fix it. We’ve tried it twice. We just can’t fix it. You all have to fix it by either repealing COOL or modifying COOL to create some kind of more generic label.” Industry experts, who widely expect the U.S. to again lose its appeal, recently called for repeal of the COOL regime (see 1503250026).
The two primary committees of jurisdiction for trade, Senate Finance and House Ways and Means, will both hold trade hearings in the coming days. Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, will convene a hearing on April 21 on Trade Promotion Authority, the committee said (here). The hearing follows two trade hearings on April 16 (see 1504170024), and will host AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue as witnesses. Finance ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., applauded the new hearing, which will be the first to hear from the private sector. “I am glad Chairman Hatch decided to continue our discussion on trade to bring in voices both in support and opposition on this important issue," Wyden said in a statement (here). Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., scheduled a hearing on April 22 (here). The witnesses have not yet been named.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and ranking member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., formally introduced legislation to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the Generalized System of Preferences and two preference programs for Haiti on April 17. Despite expectations for a companion bill in the Senate, Finance Committee lawmakers haven’t yet followed suit (see 1504170020). The AGOA Extension and Enhancement Act of 2015, HR-1891 (here), would extend the entire AGOA program through 2025, and would also extend the program’s third-country fabric provision on an identical time scale. Apparel importers tried hard over recent months and years to include that long-term extension for the fabric provision, saying the overlapping lifespan will give more reliability to supply chains (see 14091719). The extension would also extend a regional fabric provision.