The House of Representatives voted to approve HR-4402, The National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act, meant to lessen duplicative reviews, frivolous lawsuits and onerous regulations that can hold up U.S. mining projects for more than a decade. The bill is also hoped to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign countries for raw mineral ingredients.
The FTC and Department of Justice took to Congress July 11 to express concern about technology companies with standard-essential patents (SEPs) running to the International Trade Commission for exclusion orders. An exclusion order directs CBP to bar infringing articles from entry into the country. The DOJ Antitrust Division is particularly concerned with standard-essential patents involving mobile devices, because wireless devices depend on many standards for interoperability, he said.
The following are the trade-related hearings scheduled from July 9-13:
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) released a discussion draft of the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act (FARRM) on July 5.
Responses from Chinese telecommunications equipment companies ZTE and Huawei were due to the House Intelligence Committee July 3. Committee Chair Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Ranking Member Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., asked the two companies to answer more than a dozen detailed questions about the companies' corporate and financial connections with the Chinese government. Among the questions were requests for information on Chinese government subsidies.
The House Ways and Means Committee posted some 1,100 comments related to the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) June 29. The public comments are in response to the 1,200 House bills introduced for inclusion within the MTB. The MTB is generally passed every congress, suspending tariffs on certain products. The Senate Finance committee has also posted some public comments on bills introduced in the Senate.
The Senate Finance Committee voted June 29 to favorably report the nomination of Meredith Broadbent as a member of the U.S. International Trade Commission. Broadbent is nominated for a term on the ITC expiring June 16, 2017.
The Senate Finance Committee scheduled a vote for June 29 to consider the nomination of Meredith Broadbent as a member of the U.S. International Trade Commission. Broadbent is nominated for a term on the ITC expiring June 16, 2017.
The House approved HR-4251, the Securing Maritime Activities through Risk-based Targeting (SMART) for Port Security Act , June 28 under suspension of the rules. The legislation is meant to authorize, enhance, and reform port security programs through increased efficiency and risk-based coordination within the Department of Homeland Security. Text of the bill, which still needs Senate approval, is here.
Saying there may be “needless secrecy and over-classification of documents” relating to the ongoing negotiations over a potential Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement (TPP-FTA), more than 130 members of Congress wrote U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk urging him to “engage in broader and deeper consultations with members of the full range of committees of Congress whose jurisdiction touches on the wide-ranging issues involved.” The USTR should also ensure “there is ample opportunity for Congress to have input on critical policies that will have broad ramifications for years to come,” they said.