The International Trade Commission (ITC) should begin an investigation on the major suppliers of olive oil to provide the House Ways and Means Committee current information on the olive oil industry, said Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) in a Sept. 12 letter to the ITC. "A significant problem is the lack of information about the commercial olive oil industry of certain major supplier countries to the U.S. market," the letter said. "Special effort should be made to collect data about the major supplier countries of olive oil that have little published historical data."
The Senate gave its approve to a Continuing Resolution, a temporary funding measure, to prevent a government shutdown and fund federal programs until March 27, 2013 (H.J.Res 117). Among other things, the bill would pay for "operations necessary to maintain the staffing levels (including by backfilling vacant positions) of Border Patrol agents, Customs and Border Protection officers, and Air and Marine interdiction agents in effect at the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012." The resolution still needs approval from President Barack Obama.
New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include:
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D- Mont.) added to the Senate calendar legislation (S-3568) that would authorize trust funds to provide support to citrus, cotton and wool industries, paid for through import duties. The bill also takes up other broad customs issues.
Business groups voiced disappointment at the lack of action on granting Russia Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) and pushed lawmakers to take up legislation. “American businesses are now at a disadvantage vis-à-vis our competitors worldwide because Congress and the White House haven’t yet put in place PNTR with the world’s 9th largest economy, Russia,” said Business Roundtable President John Engler. “Russia PNTR is one of the only opportunities still this year to increase U.S. exports, support American jobs and grow the economy, and Congress and the White House should take immediate action to approve PNTR when members return later this fall." There is "strong bipartisan support for PNTR, as was evidenced by unanimous and near-unanimous votes in the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee,” he said. The statement is (here).
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee gave its approval to an amended S-2215, The Increasing American Jobs Through Greater Exports to Africa Act, during a Sept. 19 markup. The legislation is meant to create U.S. jobs by increasing "exports to Africa by at least 200 percent in real dollar value within 10 years," according to the bill's description. The bill would increase the number of Overseas Private Investment Corporation and U.S. Export-Import Bank employees focused on Africa.
An American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) official will push for provisions to improve dredging efficiency, during testimony before a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Sept. 20 hearing on the “Water Resources Development Act: Growing the Economy and Protecting Public Safety,” said a AAPA spokeswoman. AAPA board Chairman Jerry Bridges "will stress the need to authorize new navigation projects to keep the U.S. competitive in the world economy and promote domestic jobs and economic activity," she said. "He will also address the need to put streamlining and efficiency provisions in place that will allow deep-draft dredging projects to move along more quickly."
Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate added their support for the U.S. Trade Representative's request for the World Trade Organization to step in against China's automobile trade practices. President Barack Obama "has vigorously challenged China’s persistent failure to play by the rules, including doubling the rate of cases brought against China as compared to the last Administration," said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin (D-Mich.) "More needs to be done to rebalance this imbalanced relationship and the President has, through actions such as this, the Rare Earths case filed earlier this year, and the creation of government-wide International Trade Enforcement Center, taken strong steps toward that objective." The press release is (here).
The following are the trade-related hearings scheduled Sept. 17-21:
Sen. Chuck Schumer introduced a bill Sept. 10 (S-3523) that would update Copyright Law in Section 17 of the U.S. Code to protect fashion design and adjust language on importers. The bill would update 17 U.S.C. Section 1309 (b), describing what's considered copyright infringement. The code currently says "A seller or distributor of an infringing article who did not make or import the article shall be deemed to have infringed on a design protected under this chapter only if that person ... induced or acted in collusion with a manufacturer to make, or an importer to import such article, except that merely purchasing or giving an order to purchase such article in the ordinary course of business shall not of itself constitute such inducement or collusion." The bill would remove "or an importer to import." The bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.