On November 28, 2011, a group of four Democratic Representatives and Senators1 sent a letter to the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative expressing their concerns with the International Trade Administration's December 2010 proposed rule to use non-zeroing methodology in antidumping duty reviews.
On December 2, 2011, the House passed H.R. 3010, the Regulatory Accountability Act, a bill to reform the federal regulatory process. According to a House Judiciary Committee press release and other documents, H.R. 3010 would (i) place permanent restrictions on regulatory agencies and restore accountability by requiring openness and transparency in the regulatory process; (ii) require agencies to tailor new regulations to impose the least cost necessary to achieve policy goals set out by Congress; (iii) require agencies to hold formal hearings to test the assumptions and evidence on which the costliest new rules are based; (iv) update and reform the rulemaking process by setting mandatory rulemaking principles. House Judiciary Committee press release on passage of H.R. 3010 available here, Chamber of Commerce press release praising passage of H.R. 3010 available here. Email documents@brokerpower.com for GOP.gov summary of H.R. 3010.
On November 17, 2011, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing on S. 847, The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011, introduced by Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ) in April 2011. Witnesses were in agreement that the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 needs to be modernized, industry needs to supply the Environmental Protection Agency with data to help it prioritize risk, and reform is needed on a federal, not patch-work state level. However, some questioned the bill’s lack of protection of confidential business information (CBI), burdensome reporting requirements, etc.
On December 1, 2011, the House passed the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2011 (H.R. 527), a bill to amend chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Regulatory Flexibility Act), to ensure complete analysis of potential impacts on small entities of rules. The House also agreed to an amendment that requires the estimated cumulative impact on small businesses of any other rule stemming from the implementation of the Free Trade Agreements.
On December 1, 2011, the Senate passed S. 1867, the fiscal year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. Prior to its passage, the Senate adopted several amendments, including an amendment to require sanctions on financial institutions that do business with the Central Bank of Iran. According to a press release from the amendment's sponsor, the sanctions would prohibit financial institutions that do business with the bank of Iran from opening or maintaining correspondent banking accounts in the U.S. In the case of foreign central banks, the legislation would only apply to transactions for the sale or purchase of petroleum products and only after determining that the country with jurisdiction over the institution (1) has sufficient alternative petroleum supplies and (2) where the country has not taken steps to significantly reduce its purchases of Iranian petroleum or petroleum products. The amendment would also exempt from sanctions transactions for food, medicine and medical devices. In addition, the amendment seeks to deny Iran the resources for its nuclear weapons program.
The following are the trade-related hearings scheduled for November 29 - December 3, 2011:
On November 18, 2011, the President signed into law the conference version of H.R. 2112, the "Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012." In its fiscal year 2012 budget request, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had requested a reorganization of funds to establish a National Climate Service as a new entity within NOAA to provide accessible and timely scientific data and information about climate change to help people make informed business and other decisions. The Administration requested $322 million to establish the new Climate Service. The House Appropriations Committee's summary of the Act, however, clearly states that "the conference agreement does NOT include funding to establish a new NOAA Climate Service."
On October 26, 2011, a House Transportation subcommittee1 held a hearing on the economic importance of seaports and whether the U.S. is prepared for 21st century trade realities. The hearing was held to consider future challenges to waterborne trade such as the expansion of the Panama Canal, the ability of U.S. ports to meet the President’s goal of doubling exports by 2015, and the need for more infrastructure investment.
On November 18, 2011, Representative Hahn (D-CA) sent a letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Bersin expressing her concern that the current number of CBP agents at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) does not allow them to effectively and efficiently protect LAX from terrorist threats and asking that CBP conduct a review and place additional agents at LAX.
On November 22, 2011, Senator Schumer (D-NY) called on a U.S. audit watchdog to deregister Chinese accounting firms that continue to resist independent regulatory inspections. In a letter to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), Schumer said PCAOB needs to take a harder line with China and exercise its enforcement authority against Chinese audit firms that have not submitted to independent regulatory review. According to Schumer's press release, the Senator's call for action comes after 24 companies doing business in China reported auditor resignations and accounting irregularities in a two-month span earlier this year.