The draft tax reform legislation released on Feb. 26 by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., recommends a 6 cents per gallon increase in Inland Waterways Trust Fund fees for inland waterways towboat operators, said Waterways Council (WCI) President Michael Toohey in a press release praising the provision. The Tax Reform Act of 2014 (here) incorporates a user fee hike provision from the WAVE4 Act, HR-1149 (here), introduced in 2013. The tax reform legislation would boost the user fee 6 cents from its current 20 cents per-gallon level.

Tea Party claims that Trade Promotion Authority is unconstitutional are categorically false, said National Foreign Trade Council officials in a Feb. 25 post, claiming a 1892 Supreme Court decision set constitutional precedent for the legislation. “The Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act of 2014, a recently introduced bill to modernize TPA, does not grant any additional powers to the President; it simply guides him on how to implement the authority Congress is exercising,” said the post. “And this is not speculation by overwrought supporters of TPA. This question has been litigated all the way to the Supreme Court in 1892 in the Field v. Clark ruling.” In the case, the Supreme Court ruled the president was constitutionally able to suspend certain tariff provisions because Congress initially enacted the suspension.

House appropriations officials should prioritize CBP resources in Department of Homeland Security appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2015 in order to enable personnel levels to meet the demands of improved and expanded U.S. ports of entry, said Reps. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., and Ron Barber, D-Ariz., in a letter currently circulating in the House. U.S.-Mexico trade generated $494 billion in commerce in 2012, the letter notes. The increased CBP resources will also combat human trafficking and help prevent illicit materials from entering the U.S., said the letter, which will continue to circulate for more signatures through close of business on Feb. 27.

President Barack Obama appears to have caved to Democratic resistance on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., in a Feb. 25 Reuters op-ed. "The president has given into members of his party who oppose granting fast-track authority because the trade deals might alienate friendly special-interest groups in an election year," said Thune. The legislation would allow the U.S. to approve pending Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership pacts, said Thune. “After five years of economic stagnation and high unemployment, we should be seizing every opportunity to create more jobs and get the economy growing at a faster pace,” said Thune. “We could do that today in both the Senate and House by passing legislation giving the president the authority to wrap up the two trade pacts — all without adding a dime to the deficit.” TPA is the “best way” to break down foreign trade barriers for U.S. products and services, said Thune.

New lobbyist registrations on trade-related issues include:

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations should not be completed until Japan agrees to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers on U.S. agricultural exports, said a bipartisan group of 15 senators in a Feb. 21 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. Japanese intransigence will encourage other TPP partners to refuse to make concessions, and could even jeopardize U.S. objectives in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, said the senators, led by Michael Bennett, D-Colo., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

Following a request for signatures in early February, 120 House lawmakers endorsed a letter calling for strict environmental rules in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and submitted the letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman on Feb. 20. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Peter Defazio, D-Ore., initially circulated the letter (see 14020426). The letter insists the TPP agreement builds on a May 10, 2007 congressional accord (here) that requires adherence to a host of multilateral environment agreements.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., declined to mention trade as a priority issue in his Feb. 14 statement following his formal takeover as chairman. “In the early days of my Chairmanship I intend to meet with my colleagues to find the right paths forward on reforming the tax code, protecting the Medicare guarantee while lowering costs, improving America’s ability to compete overseas and ensuring that Americans continue to have access to quality, affordable health care,” said Wyden. Former Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., departed the Senate to take on the China ambassador role (see 14021111). Trade Promotion Authority faces stiff resistance among Democrats in both chambers of Congress (see 14021322).

Foreign trade partners have “little incentive” to negotiate with U.S. officials until Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) fast-track voting mechanisms are in place, said a Feb. 18 Chicago Tribune editorial. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., recently sided with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in opposing the legislation, according to the Tribune (here). The fast-track mechanisms largely exclude Congress from the table by preventing the amendment process, said Durbin. “But that argument holds no water. In deciding what to demand in a trade deal, the administration will have to keep in mind what Congress wants -- and what it won't tolerate. Members and their concerns figure prominently in decisions about how to shape a deal. The White House knows that if it ignores the concerns of Congress, any pact would be dead on arrival,” said the editorial. “The real reason for blocking TPA is that doing so allows lawmakers to kill the talks without seeming to reject trade outright. A lot of Democrats in Congress are hostile to the idea of free trade, which organized labor has long resisted. A battle to get the bill through Congress would divide the party and present risks at the polls this November.”

Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker should use her authority under the Export Administration Act to temporarily restrict propane exports in order to boost domestic supply amid rising propane demand and costs, said Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., in a Feb. 14 letter to Pritzker. New propane production over recent years is being shipped to more profitable foreign markets, instead of serving domestic demand, said the letter. “Average residential propane prices have jumped 60 percent in the past year, causing a significant strain on middle class and low-income families across the country,” said the lawmakers. “Demand for propane has risen significantly in recent months, driven by crop dying activities in the Midwest and the current cold weather gripping much of the country. However, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, propane production is at an all-time high and domestic production far exceeds domestic demand.”