House Financial Services Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade Chairman John Campbell, R-Calif., released on June 25 draft Export-Import Bank reauthorization legislation (here) that would make substantial structural and oversight changes to the bank. The legislation would also gradually decrease the financial authority delegated to the bank over a three year authorization period, dropping to a $95 billion budget for fiscal year 2017. House Democrats formally introduced on June 24 a bill to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank for seven years at a $5 billion annual increase, culminating in a $175 billion mandate in fiscal year 2021 (see 14062519). Campbell released the legislation text “solely for the purpose of discussion,” he said in a press release (here). Debate over reauthorization of the credit agency has hit fever pitch this week on Capitol Hill (see 14062405).
The Commerce Department is letting South Korean industry off the hook with its decision in February to not suspend liquidation or impose antidumping duty cash deposit requirements on South Korean oil country tubular goods, said industry witnesses and Democratic lawmakers at a June 25 Senate Finance Committee hearing on trade enforcement in U.S. trade policy. South Korean firms did not dump the steel products, typically used for ocean and land energy extraction projects, said Commerce in a preliminary ruling (see 14061921). Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have roundly rejected the Commerce decision over recent months, saying egregious dumping is damaging U.S. industry (see 14061921).
China, India, Russia and Switzerland’s "continuing problems" with copyright protections landed the nations on the newly renamed Congressional International Creativity and Theft-Prevention Caucus Watch List for 2014, said the caucus co-chairmen on Capitol Hill June 24. The Co-chairmen are Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif. The caucus, formerly known as the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus, changed its name because piracy “conveys an image of adventure,” but piracy is “downright theft,” said Goodlatte, who hinted at the name change earlier this year. Italy and the Philippines were highlighted in the report as “countries making progress” on copyright safeguards. The caucus highlighted a report (here) by the Digital Citizens Alliance (DCA) on ad-supported online theft. Congress and stakeholders fighting piracy “need to be as organized” as the “criminals,” said DCA Executive Director Tom Galvin at the event.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) should permit freight forwarders to use specially trained canines to screen cargo at off-airport Certified Cargo Screening Facilities, in accordance with the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act passed by Congress in 2007, said President of Commodity Forwarders Chris Connell at a June 24 hearing on detection of explosives in cargo. The legislation authorized independent screening through a raft of measures, such as x-ray, explosive trace detection technology, and canines, but the TSA still largely prohibits forwarders from using the specially trained canines, said Connell, speaking on behalf of the Airforwarders Association. “We are highly interested in any solution that can help us expedite the screening process, move our perishables more quickly through the supply chain, and still provide the utmost in safety and security of what we ship,” said Connell in written testimony. “We think dogs can really help us do that -- again, not as a magic bullet, but as an important option to help get the most out of the other solutions we are already using.”
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should continue to press to eliminate the European Union (EU) ban on U.S. exports of live, fresh, frozen or processed products containing molluscan shellfish, echinoderms, tunicates, or marine gastropods, said Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, and 15 other House members in a June 20 letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. The lawmakers sent the letter as Vilsack wrapped up a multiple-day trip throughout Europe. The EU imposed the ban in 2009, and since then officials from both sides have been crafting an equivalency agreement to ensure product safety, said the letter.
House Democrats introduced on June 24 a bill to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank for seven years at a $5 billion annual increase, topping off at a $175 billion reauthorization mandate in fiscal year 2021. House Financial Services Committee member Denny Heck, D-Wash., led the introduction, but 200 Democrats co-sponsored the bill. The legislation would authorize the bank from Oct. 1, following its Sept. 30 expiration. Industry officials have recently ramped up pressure to reauthorize the credit agency, and 41 Republicans expressed support for reauthorization in a June 23 letter (see 14062405).
Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., reportedly faces a tough reelection bid in his June 24 primary, election analysts say (here). Rangel, formerly the chairman of the full House and Ways Committee, is currently the ranking member on the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., is the next highest ranking Democrat on the subcommittee. Neal is a member of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership caucus (see 14040803).
The State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) Grant is a critical lifeline for small businesses to expand exports to new markets abroad, said Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., during a June 18 hearing. Cantwell vowed to introduce legislation to reauthorize the program. The STEP program’s authorization expired at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2013, but the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014, signed into law on Jan. 17 appropriated $8 million for the program in FY14.
More than 40 Republican House members urged Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Majority Leader-elect Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to pass a multi-year Export-Import (Ex-Im) reauthorization prior to the looming Sept. 30 expiration of the credit agency’s charter, in a June 23 letter. Boehner has been a staunch proponent of the bank throughout his tenure in office, but McCarthy in recent days rejected reauthorization (see 14062301).