Twenty-two senators signed on to a letter sent to the Senate Committee on Appropriations asking for fiscal year 2015 energy and water appropriations legislation to include harbor maintenance funding to meet 2014 dredging commitments, said the American Association of Port Authorities (here). The letter (here) asks that the legislation include an increased use of harbor maintenance trust fees to help maintain shipping lanes. A similar letter was circulated earlier this month (see 1411170059).
Congress should soon pass a law that would allow the Department of Agriculture to amend its country of origin regime for beef and pork meat in the event of an adverse ruling from the World Trade Organization, said the COOL Reform Coalition in a letter to Congress dated Nov. 21 (here). Echoing calls made earlier this month by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a coalition member, the letter said such a law would allow USDA to act quickly and avoid retaliatory tariff hikes from Canada and Mexico in the event the WTO finds fault with U.S. implementation of its previous rulings on COOL. The WTO initially ruled U.S. COOL regulations illegal in July 2012 (see 12070208), and on Oct. 20 found changes USDA made to the program in 2013 did not do enough to bring the U.S. into compliance (see 1410200033).
Incoming House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., should put Trade Promotion Authority and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill at the top of his priorities when he takes over the committee, said the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates in a statement (here). Passing "TPA would not only 'fast-track' ratification of our pending free trade agreements, it would also help ensure the best possible outcomes from the negotiations and give Congress opportunities for input and oversight," the trade group said. "Our industry would see new markets open up for our products through expanded trade and elimination of non-tariff barriers—which means increased investment, growth and jobs." The group also hopes to see movement on the MTB, it said.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called on CBP to work to improve management of its enforcement of exclusion orders following a Government Accountability Office report on the subject, they said in a joint statement (here). The GAO found a number of problems with CBP's management of International Trade Commission exclusion order enforcement in its report released Nov. 20 (see 1411200009). “As the gatekeepers of our borders, it is vital CBP work to enforce the trade laws that were designed to shield American innovators from imports that infringe their patents," the senators said. "But, as we learned from the GAO, there is clearly more work that needs to be done to better manage these processes and procedures.” CBP should "take steps, including those recommended in this report, and look forward to working with them to make border enforcement of intellectual property rights more efficient and more effective.” Wyden and Hatch requested that the GAO conduct the report in November 2013 (see 13110121).
Correction: Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, appointed on Nov. 18 Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (here), as allowed for Intelligence Committee positions.
House and Senate appropriators should prohibit Agriculture Department funding for Chinese poultry in school nutrition programs administered by USDA, said the Safe Food Coalition, an association comprised of several food safety advocacy groups, on Nov. 19 (here). The House-passed agriculture appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2015, HR-4800 (here), includes a provision to bar those funds. The Senate has not yet voted on agriculture appropriations legislation. USDA certified four Chinese facilities to export poultry products to the U.S. in early November, but the coalition fears a lack of USDA inspectors on the ground and poor Chinese documentation threaten to still allow harmful poultry into the U.S. “Further, there is a real concern that the USDA will, in the near future, grant equivalency for Chinese poultry slaughter facilities, despite the fact that China’s food safety system is fraught with problems,” said the letter. Congress needs to act on appropriations legislation for FY15, which began on Oct. 1, by Dec. 11 in order to avert a government shutdown.
The House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees continue to harm a wide range of U.S. manufacturing by refusing to tackle Miscellaneous Tariff Bill renewal legislation, said National Associations of Manufacturers Vice President of International Economic Affairs Linda Dempsey in a conference call on Nov. 19. MTB renewal has languished on Capitol Hill since last expiring at the end of 2012 due, in part, to a Senate moratorium on earmarks. A number of industry representatives, including domestic textile producers, are urging immediate MTB renewal [see 1411130012). Dempsey and two producers also pushed Congress to act on MTB in the lame-duck session. “I’m not going to say whether it should move as part of tax extenders, move on its own or move as some other part of legislation,” said Dempsey. “If not we will be seeking action by the newly-announced Ways and Means incoming chairman Paul Ryan, the incoming Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Hatch, as well as Mr. Levin and Sen. Wyden.” Levin is ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, and Wyden is current chairman of Finance. Those trade committees may also want to consider a bigger role for the International Trade Commission in the MTB review process, said Dempsey, while rejecting the argument that MTB exemptions are “earmarks.”
The House Republican Steering Committee recommended Paul Ryan to be the next Ways and Means Committee chairman on Nov. 18 (here). That recommendation was largely expected despite a fight from Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas (see 14092532). The Steering Committee made only informal recommendations for leadership on all House committees, and the caucus will vote on the recommendations later in the week.
Expiration of the Generalized System of Preferences is continuing to bankrupt companies and slash profits, as the lapse now becomes the longest in the program’s 40-year history, said more than 600 companies and associations, as well as the Coalition for GSP, in a Nov. 17 letter to congressional leadership (here). The preference program expired on July 31, 2013. Industry stakeholders are pushing Congress to act on trade legislation in the lame-duck session, but there is no clear-cut vehicle to tack on GSP renewal, along with other trade bills (see 1411170027).
A coalition of industry CEOs urged congressional leadership to tackle Trade Promotion Authority in the lame-duck session in a Nov. 13 letter to the leadership squad (here). The Business Roundtable pushed the lawmakers to pass “updated” TPA, but made no mention of a specific bill. A bipartisan group of House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committee legislators introduced a TPA bill in January. Finance ranking member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, co-introduced that bill, and he is now set to take over Finance following the Republican midterm landslide. Some analysts say current Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., privately proposed changes to that legislation in recent weeks (see 1411120045). The Business Roundtable letter also pressed the leadership squad to pass tax extenders. In the past, lawmakers have eyed extenders as a vehicle for trade legislation (see 14051620). Republican senators reelected Mitch McConnell to lead their party on Nov. 13, while Democrats also approved Harry Reid for the chief party post in the chamber despite some efforts to delay a vote (here).