A bipartisan group of senators supported President Obama’s recent announcement of transatlantic agreement with the European Union. Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), along with 13 other senators, sent a letter to President Obama Wednesday. In a press release, Portman said the agreement is a boost to American exporters and will enable U.S. companies to reach more markets.
A recently introduced bill would raise the duty rate for "polyurethane sponges" in Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 3821.13.50 and "steel wool cleaning pads" in subheading 7323.10.00. The duty rate would increase to 6.5 percent (from 4.2 percent) for the sponges and to 20 percent (from free) for the cleaning pads. The bill would also add special rates of duty for the pads to continue duty free entry for several free trade agreements. The Creating Manufacturing Jobs and Promoting Fair Trade Act (HR-734) was introduced Feb. 14 by Reps. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.).
Russia’s import ban on American beef, poultry and turkey is unfounded, harmful to the U.S. economy and should be addressed by the USTR, leaders of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry said Feb. 19. In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Ranking Member Thad Cochran, R-Miss., and 33 other senators said the ban -- a zero-tolerance policy on the livestock feed additive ractopamine -- has “no scientific merit” and violates WTO rules. Ractopamine has been approved by both the FDA and the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an international organization that sets science-based food safety standards, according to a committee press release.
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) announced the Republican members of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade in a Feb. 15 press release. They are:
On Feb. 14, the following trade-related bills and resolutions were introduced:
The Feb. 14 introduction of legislation that would repeal sugar import restrictions is a welcome development, said the National Foreign Trade Council in a press release. The sugar reform bills, S-345 and HR-693, would also provide the Department of Agriculture with more flexibility over the import quota system, said the NFTC. "All together, these and other provisions of these sugar reform bills could help save consumers and businesses about $3.5 billion a year and protect about 600,000 jobs in sugar-using industries," said NFTC President Bill Reinsch. Outdated sugar policy stifles economic growth and job creation and is "one of the oldest and most protectionist programs mandated by Congress," he said.
Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) will take the Senate Finance Committee spot left open by now Secretary of State John Kerry, said Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) in a press release.
Russia should end its unscientific ban on U.S. meat exports, including beef and pork, said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. Russia said in December it plans such a ban, despite the conclusions of international food safety organizations that U.S. beef and pork are safe, Baucus said: "Now that Russia is a member of the WTO, it must play by the rules and base its import standards on sound science."
New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include:
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee should hold a hearing on the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, as a first step towards improving the utilization of those funds, said the co-chairs of the Congressional PORTS Caucus, in a letter to the chair and ranking member of that committee. Reps. Janice Hahn, D-Calif., and Ted Poe, R-Texas, said the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund has been building a surplus for years, reaching a multi-billion-dollar surplus. At the same time, they said, "many ports across the nation have suffered from lack of investment. Common sense says there is a better way to manage and spend the trust fund, but we have not yet done what we need to fix it."