Lawmakers introduced the following trade-related bill since International Trade Today's last legislative update:
House Financial Services ranking member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., put forth legislation, HR-1031 (here), on Feb. 24 to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank through 2020, along with two Democratic colleagues on the committee and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md. In total, more than 160 House Democrats have signed on to cosponsor the legislation and the bill should be voted on, said Democrats on the Committee on Financial Services in a press release (here).The credit agency's charter is set to expire on June 30. Many business and trade officials continue to push for long-term reauthorization (see 1502200006), but key Republicans on Capitol Hill haven’t yet indicated they’ll ease up opposition.
Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, postponed a Feb. 26 hearing on tariff policy, citing resistance from Finance ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Hatch made public the hearing six days ago, and Wyden immediately criticized it, calling it “premature.” The two lawmakers haven’t reached consensus on Trade Promotion Authority, said Wyden in his rejection of the hearing (see 1502200010). A spokesman for Wyden didn’t comment.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., introduced legislation in both the Senate and House of Representatives on Feb. 25 to extend Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) programs through the end of 2020. The bill also aims to strengthen those programs through a number of modifications. Trade Adjustment Assistance, which supporters say helps Americans who lost jobs to trade by preparing them to enter the workforce in other fields, expires on Sept. 30, the end of fiscal year 2015.
House Ways and Means ranking member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., dug in on his position that currency rules in the Trans-Pacific Partnership won’t impact the ability of the U.S. to act to improve the economy, in a statement on Feb. 24 (here). Levin has repeatedly made that claim over recent weeks (see 1502090017), but his latest offensive comes after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told Senate lawmakers those currency rules could “hamper or even hobble monetary policy,” according to reports (here). Yellen also argued current U.S. monetary policy can’t qualify as currency manipulation, a claim backed up by Levin. “Currency manipulation has negatively affected the impact of trade and has likely cost the U.S. millions of jobs and it must be addressed as part of our TPP negotiations,” Levin said in his statement (here).
MIAMI -- There's strong support of congressional efforts to enact a de minimis raise from $200 to $800 for commercial imports, but the express industry is more focused on ensuring Customs Reauthorization passes into law this Congress, said DHL Head of International Affairs Eugene Laney at the International Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Council for International Business on Feb. 24. The House and Senate both recently introduced that bipartisan legislation (see 1502170017).
Exports through African Growth and Opportunity Act duty preferences only account for a “small proportion” of total exports, less than 0.5 percent in many cases, from AGOA beneficiary countries, the Government Accountability Office said in a recent report to lawmakers on Capitol Hill (here). But AGOA-eligible countries still fare far better than ineligible countries across a broad range of economic indicators, such as income growth and governance quality, said GAO. The report emphasizes the difficulty to tie economic progress in eligible countries directly to AGOA preferences. Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was among the 10 lawmakers who requested the report. Many AGOA supporters are pushing for renewal before the Sept. 30 expiration. Some of those supporters are targeting Trade Promotion Authority as a vehicle (See 1501290035).
Renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences is “low-hanging fruit” on the 2015 U.S. trade agenda and lawmakers should put the preference program, with a retroactive provision, back into law immediately, said more than 600 companies and trade organizations in a Feb. 23 letter (here). “Please do not delay renewal any longer,” said the letter, addressed to congressional leaders of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees. “The mounting costs and uncertainty surrounding when GSP might be renewed have had a chilling effect on our ability to grow and compete in the global marketplace.” Renewal will immediately boost U.S. economic growth and competitiveness, said the letter. GSP expired at the end of July 2013.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., vowed to introduce separate legislation to stop implementation of President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration, after Democrats in the chamber again on Feb. 23 blocked debate on the House-passed Department of Homeland Security funding bill (here). That measure, HR-240 (here), contained policy riders that would have prevented the immigration action. The department’s funding expires at midnight on Feb. 27.
National Association of Manufacturers President Jay Timmons pushed new Senate Banking chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., to move ahead with long-term authorization of the U.S, Export-Import Bank during a Feb. 19 speech (here). Timmons championed U.S. manufacturing growth over recent years, but said Ex-Im is critical to maintaining U.S. competitiveness globally.