On March 20, 2012, Reps. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio and Ted Poe, R-Texas, introduced H.R. 4216, the Foreign Counterfeit Protection Act. The bill would allow Customs and Border Protection to exchange important information with rights holders in order to protect intellectual property (IP) rights and to uphold the integrity of trade. H.R. 4216 would improve efforts to identify merchandise or retail packaging that infringes or copyright or bears a counterfeit trademark. The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
All 16 high-tech military parts purchased from China via the Internet were suspected to be counterfeit, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report released Monday. In fact, four of the bogus parts were sent in response to requests for part numbers that intentionally did not exist, the GAO report said. The parts came from 13 different Chinese vendors. In a letter to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, dated Feb. 21 but released March 26, the GAO said such counterfeit parts “have the potential to seriously disrupt the Department of Defense supply chain, delay missions … and ultimately endanger the lives of our troops.”
On March 22, 2012, the following trade-related bills and resolutions were introduced:
On March 21, the House of Representatives defeated efforts to force a vote on S. 1813, the bipartisan 2-year transportation bill approved by the Senate March 14. The House attempted to attach the Senate-passed bill to an unrelated bill up for approval, but that was defeated. On March 22, the House introduced H.R. 4239, the “Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012,” was introduced to continue funding at current levels from April 1 through June 30, 2012. Current highway funding expires on March 31.
On March 24, 2012, President Barack Obama urged the House of Representatives to pass the two-year transportation bill, S. 1813, which has already been approved by the Senate. Obama said a failure to pass the bill will allow construction sites and important transportation projects to go idle. He stated that the House must put aside partisan posturing to pay for crumbling roads and bridges. (See ITT’s Online Archives 12031508 for summary of Senate’s passage of S. 1813.) March 21 Congressional Record debate on transportation bill can be found here.
The following are trade-related highlights of the Executive Communications sent to Congress for March 20-21, 2012:
On March 20-21, 2012 the following trade-related bills and resolutions were introduced:
On March 21, 20212 Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) called on the House to pass S. 1813, a bill to reauthorize the Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs for two years, which the Senate passed March 14, 2012. The bill, also known as Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), would maintain funding at current levels, indexed for inflation, among other things. Current highway funding expires on March 31, 2012.
On March 21, 2012, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Deputy Commissioner Thomas Winkowski testified before the Senate Appropriations' Subcommittee on Homeland Security on CBP's work to secure and facilitate the flow of passengers into the U.S. He stated that CBP has taken a proactive management approach in addressing passenger processing issues and is constantly working in partnership with airport authorities, airlines, and the travel industry to identify new ways to more efficiently facilitate the entry process. CBP has also placed a great emphasis in targeting potential security and law enforcement threats prior to their arrival in the U.S., and specifically prior to boarding U.S. bound flights, through its Pre-Departure Targeting Strategy. He also discussed CBP initiatives, such as SENTRI, FAST, NEXUS, Global Entry, the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), Visa Waiver Program (VWP), and the use of RFID technology, etc.
The following are trade-related highlights of the Executive Communications sent to Congress for March 20, 2012: