Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and the top Republican trade official in the Senate tore into President Barack Obama’s commitment to Trade Promotion Authority in recent days, saying he is not doing enough even after delivering a strong message of support for the trade agenda in comments on Dec. 3 (see 1412040025). At a press conference on Dec. 4, Boehner said Obama needs to ramp up efforts to build bipartisan support so TPA can pass the House. “I’ve been trying to do Trade Promotion Authority for three years, but that’s hard to do when the president won’t even stand up and ask it,” said Boehner (here).
One-third of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiating countries regularly host some of the worst labor rights violations globally, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative needs to fundamentally revise its approach to labor provisions in U.S. free trade agreements, said four House Democrats in a Dec. 4 call with reporters. Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., George Miller, D-Calif., Mark Pocan, D-Wis., and Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., also sent a letter to USTR Michael Froman on the same day that echoed the comments made on the conference call (here).
A Trade Promotion Authority vote in the near future will only polarize congressional views on trade and may fail to advance through the House, said the House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., to reporters on Dec. 5. Lawmakers need to first ensure U.S. negotiators resolve outstanding areas of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations before a TPA vote is taken up, he said. The administration must also put in place a far stronger, formalized congressional role in trade negotiations oversight and consultations, said Levin. There is no legislation needed for that, only administration commitment, he said.
Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, will take the reins of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee in the next Congress, incoming committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., announced on Dec. 4 (here). Current trade subcommittee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., is leaving his post as subcommittee head after Speaker of the House John Boehner tapped him to lead the House Select Committee on Intelligence in November.
The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Non-Proliferation and Trade is set to hold a Dec. 10 hearing on the Obama administration's policies toward controlling Russian arms exports (here). State Department Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller, and Defense Department Principal Deputy Undersecretary for Policy Brian McKeon, are scheduled to testify.
The Obama administration’s resistance to the harmonization of financial regulations in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership best serves the American people by preserving the U.S. ability to safeguard the country from financial instability, said four House Democrats, including Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., on Dec. 1 (here). The lawmakers said in the letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew that the administration must avoid damaging financial service market access and capital control agreements in TTIP.
The House passed on Dec. 3 the high-profile tax extenders legislation with an overwhelmingly supportive 378-46 vote in favor, but the measure advanced without amendment and is now sent to the Senate. Some trade supporters hoped lawmakers would tack trade bills, such as Generalized System of Preferences renewal, onto the extenders legislation. Senate Democratic leadership have not yet scheduled a vote on the tax bill.
The Senate confirmed Robert Adler to serve another term on the Consumer Product Safety Commission in a partisan vote on Dec. 2 (here). His new term will expire on Oct. 27, 2014. Democrats made up the 53 votes in favor of Adler. All Republicans that voted in the chamber, as well as Democratic caucus member, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine., voted to oppose the confirmation. Adler's first term at CPSC began in 2009.
More than 200 farm, labor, manufacturing and other grassroots organizations urged Senate appropriators to shoot down any attempts to “weaken, suspend or rescind” country-of-origin labeling in fiscal year 2015 appropriations. The World Trade Organization sided again with Canada and Mexico in the COOL dispute in October, but the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative appealed the decision in late November (see 1411280029). Business groups, such as the Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers, are urging Congress to provide the U.S. Department of Agriculture authority to rescind the COOL regulations that the WTO ruled inconsistent with global trade rules. Those organizations fear Canada and Mexico will cause serious damage to the U.S. economy through retaliatory tariffs. “Congress should not short circuit the WTO process; nor should it unconditionally surrender to the threats of tariff retaliation by our trading partners,” said the letter. “We believe the United States has strong grounds to appeal the most recent WTO ruling.” Congress has until Dec. 11 to pass appropriations legislation necessary to keep the government running.
Outgoing House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., introduced legislation on Dec. 1 to retroactively renew a set of tax breaks for only one year, following a White House veto threat on a tax extender package previously brokered between Camp and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Trade supporters have eyed the tax extenders bill as a possible vehicle for Generalized System of Preferences renewal, along with other trade legislation (see 1411170027). But President Barack Obama and a chorus of Democrats assailed the Camp-Reid deal as serving predominately large corporations.