Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, introduced legislation that would require shipments from foreign countries through the U.S. postal system to provide advance electronic data to CBP about the packages before they cross into the U.S., akin to requirements for express carriers like FedEx and UPS, Portman said in a statement (here). The bill would make the U.S. Postmaster-General the importer of record for non-letter class international mail, and would require the merchandise's owner, purchaser, valid licensee, Postmaster-General, or postmaster's designee to provide the required information by time of entry. Furthermore, the Treasury secretary within six months of enactment would be required to issue regulations requiring the Postmaster-General or his/her designee to file informal customs entries for all non-letter class mail that meets informal entry requirements. Each item of dutiable mail requiring documentation by a customs officer will incur a $5 customs fee, and the arrival of each item of non-letter class mail will incur a $1 fee, the bill says.

The House on Sept. 7 unanimously passed a bill (here) that would require the president to establish an African Growth and Opportunity Act website including information and technical assistance provided at U.S. Agency for International Development regional trade hubs and links to websites for U.S. embassies in AGOA-eligible sub-Saharan African countries. Specifically, the AGOA Enhancement Act of 2015 says the president should update the AGOA website after each meeting of the U.S.-Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum to advise on any country or private-sector commitments, as well as the extent to which public and/or private entities made progress in meeting prior commitments. The bill also directs the President to implement policies to drive transboundary trade for AGOA beneficiaries, to develop policies to provide training for businesses and government officials on accessing benefits of AGOA and other trade preference programs, and to provide trade capacity-building training to foster diversification of African products, among other things.

The four members of the Maine congressional delegation on Sept. 6 said an EU decision to broadly review designating U.S. lobster as an invasive species and to consider banning live lobster imports from North America is inconsistent with World Trade Organization rule and could have “devastating effects” on the U.S. lobster industry (here). According to a CBS News article (here), EU’s Scientific Forum on Invasive Alien Species decided it has enough information to move forward with an examination of whether North American lobsters should be put on its invasive species list, after Sweden in December proposed to prohibit the imports. The EU could issue a final decision as early as this upcoming spring, according to the article. “There is no strong scientific evidence to justify a ban on the import of live lobsters into the entire 28-country European Union, as Sweden wrongly proposes,” the lawmakers said. “We will continue to support Maine’s lobster industry by seeing that the science and economic impacts are made clear.”

Five California House Democrats, led by Ports Caucus Co-Chair Janice Hahn, urged Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker to work out an agreement with Hanjin and South Korean officials to guarantee that West Coast ports and port workers get paid, and that full ships anchored at those ports can be unloaded. Some U.S. ports refused to accept Hanjin ships, after the Korea Development Bank rejected a self-restructuring proposal by the company, which filed for bankruptcy protection last week (see 1609020011). “This crisis may be complicated, but US workers and their livelihood are in the middle of it,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter (here). “As the nation just celebrated Labor Day and the workers who keep our economy running, we urge the Obama Administration to act to ensure that our workers are paid and that our economy is protected.” Because Hanjin’s ships are sitting idle at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and others on the West Coast, some workers at those locations were told they won’t get paid, the lawmakers said. Furthermore, unloading the ships should be a higher priority as the U.S. heads into peak shopping season, they said.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will on Sept. 13 convene a hearing on Brexit’s impacts on U.S. interests in the United Kingdom and Europe, the committee said (here). Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Michael Punke will testify. Senators will also hear testimony from Treasury Assistant Secretary for International Finance Ramin Toloui and State Department Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on Sept. 1 called for the Obama administration to level more sanctions against corrupt Venezuelan officials who are suppressing free speech, according to a statement released by Rubio’s office (here). “The violence, bloodshed and despotism in Venezuela has gone on for too long, and it’s time the Obama Administration implement a vast and sweeping wave of sanctions on all those who continue to wreck the future of the Venezuelan people,” he said. In a June note to Congress, Secretary of State John Kerry said Venezuela remains uncooperative with U.S. anti-terror efforts, which bars U.S. defense articles and services from being sold to the country in fiscal 2016 (see 1606010006). President Barack Obama signed into law on July 15 Rubio's Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Extension Act of 2016, extending U.S. sanctions against the country through Dec. 31, 2019.

Congressional Steel Caucus Chairman Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., and Vice Chairman Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., urged President Barack Obama to press China to act to reduce excess steel capacity at the upcoming G-20 and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Forum meetings, according to a letter they wrote to the president (here). The lawmakers called for Obama to continue building international support for the development of “clear consequences” for China’s role in global steel overcapacity, in part, through highlighting Chinese currency manipulation, illegal government subsidies, inaction on China’s commitment to shift its steel industry from government to private control, alleged cyber warfare practiced against U.S. steel producers, and China’s non-market economy status for antidumping and countervailing duty purposes.

The National Ingredients Strategy in Canada was developed by industry and the Canadian government was not part of talks that led to its formation, a spokesperson for the Canadian Embassy in Washington said in response to two U.S. senators who expressed concern that Canada is moving to limit New York and Wisconsin exports of ultra-filtered milk to the country under the dairy pricing initiative (see 1609010052). “The Government of Canada supports the efforts by Canadian dairy stakeholders to find long-term, sustainable solutions to industry challenges, consistent with Canada’s international trade obligations,” the spokesperson said in an email. Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack pushed the federal government to investigate whether the pricing strategy initiative, which the senators said could incentivize Canadian dairy processors to move away from using imported U.S. milk, violates NAFTA and/or World Trade Organization obligations.

The Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank didn’t finance any new dual-use exports in fiscal 2015, and the bank hasn’t made determinations for whether satellites exported to Mexico and construction equipment shipped to Cameroon comply with U.S. dual-use requirements, the Government Accountability Office said in its annual status report of Ex-Im-funded dual-use exports (here). The Ex-Im engineer responsible for monitoring the satellites said he hasn’t made the annually required determination because a mobile service satellite -- one of three satellite exports to Mexico funded by the bank -- was still undergoing “system acceptance.” Furthermore, an Ex-Im engineer hasn’t made a determination about Cameroon’s compliance with end-use requirements, but informally concluded the government is compliant after conducting an end-use inspection in the country in June 2015 and receiving the yearly required end-use report from Cameroon in July. GAO made no recommendations. In a written response to the report, Ex-Im Bank COO Charles Hall, without giving specifics, said the scope of this year’s dual-use report differed from past practice, but GAO refuted this, saying this year’s scope is aligned with that of prior years, “in which we reviewed transactions that were newly financed and transactions that continued to be financed during the second preceding fiscal year.”

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Laredo, Texas, officials during an Aug. 31 stakeholder meeting touted the pre-clearance benefits that an expansion project at Laredo’s World Trade Bridge will bring once completed, according to a statement by Cuellar’s office (here). The project at the eight-lane commercial traffic bridge aims to add a lane for pre-cleared cargo and other lanes, and will include an expansion of the bridge infrastructure, the office said. Furthermore, a U.S.-Mexico joint pre-inspection program would cut customs processing times and trade costs by instituting dual export/import inspections, and is anticipated to expedite goods flows, alleviate congestion, and boost the economic competitiveness of Laredo and its neighbor, Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Cuellar said. Planned ease-of-business enhancements will allow Laredo to remain the U.S.’s “preeminent inland port,” and give it an advantage over “all other port competitors,” as cargo vehicles will experience easier and more efficient clearance processes, Laredo City Manager Jesus Olivares said in a statement.