A recently introduced House bill aims to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, by extending the production certificate program to 2025. The program allows refunds of duties on certain articles produced in U.S. insular possessions. Under current law, the program is only extended through 2015. The bill was introduced March 12 by Rep. Donna Christensen, D-V.I. (here).
New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include:
A new House bill aims to stymie currency manipulation by changing current countervailing duty law by requiring the Commerce Department to use a broader set of facts to determine whether a subsidy benefits exporters. House Ways & Means Ranking Member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., is spearheading the legislation, called the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act (here). “Currency manipulation by our trading partners has been going on for far too long, with American workers feeling the impact through lost jobs and lower wages,” Levin said at a press conference announcing the bill. “This bill includes measures to provide the Administration with the additional tools necessary to enforce the rules of global trade and is consistent with our [World Trade Organization] obligations. It also helps strengthen the Administration’s efforts to develop a multilateral framework for addressing this global competitiveness issue.”
A group of 39 senior executives are urging legislators to swiftly pass a new Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, in a letter sent March 18 to Congressional leaders. “Congress’s failure to act on this legislation by December 31, 2012 means taxes on over 600 products have increased as of January 1, 2013 and hundreds more face unnecessary tariff burdens,” the letter said. “Failure to pass the MTB as soon as possible will continue adding to the 20 percent cost differential that U.S. manufacturers already face, resulting in further losses of important manufacturing opportunities and jobs." House Ways and Means leaders introduced a new MTB in January, based on the bill introduced -- but never passed -- last session (see 13010207). The committee is currently accepting disclosure forms for the tariff suspension bill (see 13031304).
Recent trade-related legislation introduced in Congress includes:
A group of more than 30 senators is urging the elimination of dairy sector trade barriers in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. In a March 14 letter to the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the senators said they are “concerned about the need to maintain current U.S. dairy exports to our TPP partners in the face of potential new barriers to trade.”
Japan will join Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, the country's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced March 15, joining 11 other countries currently in the midst of negotiations and hoping to seal a deal by October. The sixteenth round of TPP talks ended March 13 13031401. The announcement comes a day after a group of 50 Senators and Representatives sent a letter (here) to President Obama saying that the TPP should address Japan’s “significant, long-standing, and persistent economic barriers put in place to block our exports and support theirs. The letter specifically mentions Japan’s policies in the auto sector, which have been “carefully honed ... to keep out American and other foreign cars and parts.”
The India-U.S. trade relationship may hold huge possibility, due to India’s budding economy and booming population, but that potential won’t be realized unless the U.S. pushes India multilaterally and bilaterally to end its protectionist policies, industry representatives told the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee March 13.
The House Ways & Means Committee is still seeking disclosure forms for its tariff suspension bill, promising that any provisions included in the 112th Congress miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) will be included in the MTB for this new session, according to the committee website. Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., Ranking Member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim McDermott, D-Wash., introduced a new MTB Jan.1 (See 13010207). The committee is asking any member who submitted a disclosure form last session to resubmit, and is not accepting any new bills. Tariff suspension bills whose sponsors are not serving this session must be adopted by another member, the website said. All disclosure forms are due March 28 by 12 p.m. No MTB will be considered until after this deadline.
New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include: