Government officials and industry representatives cautioned against changes to International Trade Commission Section 337 investigations -- warning of negative consequences that could lead to expensive, lengthy cases -- at a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing April 16. The hearing focused on proposed efforts to suppress Non-Practicing Entities and Patent Assertions Entities from getting Exclusion Orders under Section 337, including calls from industry to amend the criteria for qualifying as a U.S. industry that can cause a Section 337 investigation. The Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet held a similar hearing last year (see 12071901).
Sequestration will force the Federal Maritime Commission to furlough employees for about 10-14 days due to sequestration, which, when combined with other sequestration-induced budget squeezes, limits the commission’s ability to oversee the shipping industry and ensure compliance, Chairman Mario Cordero told the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation April 16.
Trade Promotion Authority is essential for the passage of upcoming agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and though it is likely Congress will take up the issue this year, securing the fast track negotiating authority will require a “huge messy debate,” National Foreign Trade Council President Bill Reinsch said April 12. The group released a draft Trade Promotion Authority Act April 12, the bill “an effort to stimulate debate” and crafted in consultation with leaders in the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees, Reinsch said.
New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include:
Recent trade-related bills introduced in the House and Senate include:
CBP should ensure flexible, sufficient data transmission and internal harmonization to ensure the Air Cargo Advance Screening program is successful, industry stakeholders told members of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security April 11. CBP recently announced it's formalizing requirements for ACAS and will extend the pilot (see 13040235).
A group of almost 40 House lawmakers signed on to an antidumping and countervailing duty evasion bill, introduced April 9, that bears many of the same provisions of the 2011 Senate ENFORCE Act, a component of customs reauthorization bills currently in the House and Senate. HR-1440, sponsored by Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., sets up timelines CBP must follow when dealing with AD/CVD evasion, as does ENFORCE.
Increased flexibility to implement sequester-induced cuts would allow CBP to more-effectively manage the agency, CBP officials told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at an April 10 hearing. The hearing dealt with the agency’s progress and plans for border security, with many Senators questioning the usefulness and scope of metrics CBP was using to determine whether U.S. borders are secure. Committee Ranking Member Tom Coburn, R-Okla., posed the question about sequestration: “You actually could be more effective under this sequester, if we gave you the flexibility to manage your operations [like those in the private sector]?” All the officials answered yes.
The proposed EU-U.S. trade agreement was called alternately a hard sell, a game changer, an agreement among equals and a challenge at the Capitol Hill rollout of the Business Coalition for Transatlantic Trade April 10. The group was recently created in support of the EU-U.S. agreement, officially known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and consists of major businesses like FedEx and Ford plus business groups like the National Foreign Trade Council.
A recently introduced House bill would amend the Export Promotion Act, giving budget review authority to the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee and requiring better coordination on export efforts among government agencies. The bill, HR-1409, The Export Promotion Reform Act, is a repeat of one that passed the House last year, but was never acted on in the Senate (see 12053114). Introduced April 9 by Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., it requires creation of a plan to assess global markets for the best opportunities to increase exports, seeks the recommendations of U.S. firms and workers on export promotion and requires State Department diplomatic staff to develop country-specific plans to increase U.S. exports. The bill also requires the TPCC to improve current export promotion programs and review and approve annual export promotion budgets. “We must cut through bureaucratic red tape and encourage home grown industries and manufacturers to expand their businesses, hire more workers, and export their products overseas,” said Engel in a statement. “This is not a Democratic or Republican bill, but a job creating bill that puts American workers first.”