Hatch Working on New Customs Bill, TPA Agreement Remains Elusive
The Senate Finance Committee is working to improve upon Customs Reauthorization legislation from previous years for a new bill that could be taken up this Congress, said Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, to the American Apparel and Footwear Association on March 19. Congress has failed to “modernize our customs system” in a timely fashion, but the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Reauthorization Act provides the framework to do just that, said Hatch. He and then-Finance Chairman Max Baucus floated that legislation in 2013 and tried unsuccessfully to move it forward.
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The legislation would improve CBP Trusted Trader partnerships, boost private sector dialogue with the government, and pressure implementation of the Automated Commercial Environment, said Hatch. “In addition, the bill would improve our ability to protect one of our nation’s most important economic assets: intellectual property,” said Hatch. The 2013 Customs Reauthorization bill stalled partly due to disagreement over antidumping/countervailing duty evasion language (see 13040911).
Committee lawmakers are also in the process of crafting an African Growth and Opportunity renewal bill, and the legislation may address both optimizing sub-Saharan African use of the program’s preferences and breaking down barriers for U.S. exports to the region, said Hatch. The program will now expire in just over six months, but lawmakers and administration officials are pressuring quick renewal (see 1501280018).
Hatch also said he’s committed to moving Generalized System of Preferences “as quickly as possible.” That program's expiration in 2013 resulted in increased customs duty payments that have hurt businesses, he said. “Businesses in every state have been affected by the expiration of GSP and have a vested interest in the renewal of the program,” said Hatch. “These businesses in my home state of Utah and around the country are left with difficult decisions about downsizing, hiring freezes, and employee layoffs.” Former Sen. Tom Coburn’s opposition to a pay-for mechanism in the 2013 Senate renewal bill derailed the process at the time, and he has since left office.
Many trade observers speculate lawmakers will try to move these trade bills as part of a package that moves together or in tandem with Trade Promotion Authority (see 1503040015). Hatch and Wyden haven’t yet reached an agreement on the contents of that bill, and the Finance chairman dug in again in his remarks. “I will not agree to any TPA bill that will make it harder for our negotiators to reach a good deal and more difficult for Congress to be able to vote an agreement up or down,” said Hatch.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of Hatch's speech.