Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., postponed to May 1 at 11:00 a.m. the committee hearing on the Obama administration trade agenda, the committee said in a press release. The hearing was previously set to take place on April 30. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will testify at the hearing.
The U.S. dairy industry faces a $1.3 billion trade deficit with the European Union (EU) due to persistent protectionist policies that should be dismantled in Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations, say lawmakers in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. The letter continues to circulate in the House. There is currently no target date for submission, said a spokesman for Rep. Reid Ribble, R-Wis., one of the letter's lead sponsors.
The U.S. should not permit Japan to accede to a final Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact, unless the country eliminates tariff and non-tariff barriers to U.S. agricultural products, said lawmakers in an April 21 letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. The letter garnered 63 signatures, according to a spokesman for co-sponsor, Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo. Froman is accompanying President Barack Obama on his tour of four Asian countries this week, and many industry officials expect the pair to press market access concessions during the leg in Tokyo. “Not only would special treatment for sensitive agriculture products be inconsistent with U.S. requests in previous trade agreements and assurances provided when Japan was invited to join TPP, but also could undermine the careful balance of concessions the other eleven economies have achieved,” said the letter. “If Japan is allowed exemptions, other TPP countries could demand similar treatment and the entire agreement would be at risk of unraveling.” Japan continues to resist tariff elimination on rice, pork and beef, wheat, dairy and sugar (see 14042113).
Despite annual calls for changes to the Dominican Republic “Two for One” Earned Import Allowance Program, Congress has displayed a puzzling lack of will to resolve problems that render the program unusable to industry, said the American Apparel & Footwear Association in comments to the International Trade Commission dated April 11. Every year since the program’s inception in 2009, the ITC has told Congress of issues with the program, said AAFA. Yet every year, apparel imports from the Dominican Republic have declined while Congress has failed to act.
New lobbyist registrations on trade-related issues include:
Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman should elevate Canada to the USTR Special 301 Priority Watch List this year, in response to Canada’s failure to bring its patent standards “in line” with international standards and regulations, said more than 30 lawmakers from the House of Representatives in a recent letter. Canadian courts have repeatedly violated global intellectual property agreements, including the primary World Trade Organization pact on intellectual property, by determining certain drug patents lack the “utility” necessary to be regulated, said the lawmakers.
Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
The State and Treasury Departments should impose sanctions on Russian state arms exporter Rosboronexport due to the recent Russian violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and its support for the “illegal” Crimean referendum on secession, said a bipartisan group of 38 House lawmakers in a letter to the secretaries of each department. The Defense Department should also cease payments to the arms exporter that relate to a 2013 contract to procure Mi-17 helicopters, they said. The Obama administration's Executive Order that expands the scope of sanctions should enable the imposition of sanctions on Rosboronexport, said the lawmakers (see 14030614).
Senate Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah., expressed “concern” over whether Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will actually come to fruition in an April 8 speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Should they conclude, Hatch also questioned whether the agreements will achieve the high-level of ambition necessary to benefit U.S. interests. U.S. trade policy is littered with failures to conclude agreements, said Hatch.