A group of ten Senators said the U.S. shouldn't allow Japan to enter Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations due to the country's unfair automobile trade practices. The Senators wrote President Barack Obama in a July 17 letter, saying the "history of U.S.-Japanese trade relations gives us little confidence that American negotiators can achieve an agreement that would create a truly level playing field between the two countries in the short timeframe of TPP negotiations." As such "we believe it would be a mistake to invite Japan to join the TPP at this time," they said.
House lawmakers slammed the Chinese government for facilitating infringement and theft of U.S. intellectual property online, during a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing July 19. The Chinese government has "approved and coordinated" theft of U.S. IP and the American government has been "cowardly" in confronting the threat, said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif. "We've been played for suckers over the years, we've been played as fools" as the Chinese government has only become more "brazen in their theft of wealth that should be going to our people." Committee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., urged the executive branch to negotiate enforceable agreements with foreign governments that will curb IP theft such as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The trade agreement would require parties --- which include the U.S., Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Peru, Malaysia and Vietnam --- to ensure they have effective enforcement procedures against online trademark, copyright and other rights infringements. Ranking Member Howard Berman, D-Calif., said the U.S. has an opportunity to successfully negotiate the TPP, which he called an "ambitious agreement" with Asian countries to protect U.S. IP. "It is critical that this agreement reflect and prioritize the contribution of the U.S. IP industries to the U.S. economy by including strong protections for IP and robust enforcement provisions," he said. Heritage Foundation Senior Research Fellow Derek Scissors agreed that the TPP offers a "great possibility" for curbing Chinese IP theft and urged lawmakers to pursue other lines of attack as well. "There are ways for the U.S. to change its laws to make it more difficult and uncomfortable" for Chinese infringers, he said. David Hirschmann, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Intellectual Property Center, said it's crucial to focus on the Web where stolen U.S. IP is primarily being distributed. "One thing we can do is to begin to work with the world to find pro-Internet freedom rule of law approaches to address distribution on the Internet," he said. House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have previously denounced the TPP as a threat to Internet freedom, and Wyden introduced a bill in May to clarify the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's duty to share trade agreement information with all members of Congress.
Lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee said they plan to introduce HR-6156, legislation that would grant permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Russia. The Senate Finance Committee approved a similar bill July 18. While a review of the Senate Finance Committee’s actual legislative text is still pending, the bill is expected to mirror that Committee’s version of Russia PNTR, said the committee in a press release. Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) also said the Committee will mark up the legislation next week. The bill will be introduced by Camp, Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-Mich.), and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) and Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas). (See ITT's Online Archives 12071912 for summary of the Senate Finance bill.)
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee scheduled a hearing titled "Economic Statecraft: Increasing American Jobs Through Greater U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment (S-2215, The Increasing American Jobs Through Greater Exports to Africa Act of 2012)." The July 25 hearing will include as witnesses Fred Hochberg, president of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, Elizabeth Littlefield, CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and Francisco Sanchez, Under Secretary for International Trade at the Commerce Department. The text of S-2215 is (here).
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rep. Michael Michaud (D-Maine) are among lawmakers pushing the Obama administration to keep footwear tariffs, as negotiations continue on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, they said in press releases. The Maine legislators joined employees of sneaker-maker New Balance July 18 to make their case in Washington, DC. Michaud said U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk has accepted an invitation to visit a New Balance factory in Maine this fall.
Members of the House IP Subcommittee offered suggestions Wednesday during a hearing to curb the rising number of patent disputes at the International Trade Commission (ITC). Subcommittee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., noted that the number of ITC complaints has nearly tripled the annual average for the past 10 years and "bogus lawsuits" continue to proliferate despite the passage of patent reform via the America Invents Act. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., described the increasing number of patent disputes at the ITC as a "shakedown situation."
The Senate Finance Committee approved legislation July 18 that would give permanent normal trade relations status to Russia and repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which has been in place since 1974 to restrict trade with communist countries. Text of the bill is (here). The committee considered several pieces of trade legislation during the July 18 markup.
The House Homeland Security Committee Counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittee scheduled a field hearing titled "Are the Department of Homeland Security’s International Agreements Ensuring Actionable Intelligence to Combat Threats to the U.S. Homeland?" The hearing is scheduled for July 30 in Buffalo, NY.
A group of 73 freshman GOP lawmakers in the House of Representatives gave their support for giving Russia permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) in a letter to President Barack Obama July 13. Without the PNTR, "U.S. exporters and their workers will not be able to take advantage of this market," they said. House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) has said he plans to introduce a PNTR bill.
The following are the trade-related hearings scheduled July 16-20: