Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Catfish Inspection Program violates the World Trade Organization Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Agreement by creating a deliberate trade restriction that lacks adequate risk determination, said U.S. Chamber of Commerce Head of International Affairs Myron Brilliant in a Jan. 6 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. Lawmakers and industry leaders have applied pressure for the program’s repeal in the lead-up to the anticipated release of a Farm Bill conference final report (see 13121124).
Former Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs at SAP, Lindsey Held, joined the Senate Finance Committee as senior advisor for communications, said Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., in a Jan. 2 press release. Committee leadership also promoted Ryan Carey to press secretary and speechwriter and Taylor Harvey to press assistant.
Congress should immediately extend Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) in order to extend certain programs that expired on Dec. 31, 2013 and others that are due for expiration at the end of 2014, said House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Sander Levin, D-Mich. in a press release. "TAA is our commitment to workers competing in a globalized economy and we must immediately extend the improvements that we made in 2009 when Congress returns," said Levin. The House reconvened on Jan. 3. Among the TAA programs that expired in recent days, U.S. workers adversely affected by imports will no longer receive assistance, said the release.
Passage of a revised Trade Promotion Authority law will provide clear guidance on congressional objectives and help shape strategic trade policy vision as the U.S. continues to pursue “one of the most ambitious trade agendas in a generation,” said Doug Oberhelman, CEO of Caterpillar, in a McClatchy-Tribune News Service Dec. 26 opinion article (here). The legislation will also provide comfort to potential trading partners as the U.S. seeks to close the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, said Oberhelman.
New lobbyist registrations on trade-related issues include:
Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
A group of 15 governors urged Congressional leadership and President Barack Obama to give their support to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trade in Services Agreement in a Dec. 23 letter. The letter, sent to Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the trade deals will help drive increased market access. "Reductions in trade barriers and increased market access allows our businesses, workforce, agricultural producers, and service sectors to compete on a more level playing field to help drive economic growth and increase family incomes," they said. "We are encouraged by the comprehensive nature of these agreements, but we do want to underscore that the primary purpose of the agreements should be to increase market access, including improved access for US agricultural and manufactured goods abroad, while establishing ambitious rules to protect intellectual property, empower American workers, ensure fair competition with state-owned enterprises, and foster the digital economy."
Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
Congress should pass a Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) that temporarily reduces duties on crop protection agricultural inputs, including pesticide feedstocks, active ingredients and final products, said a group of nearly 20 agriculture producing organizations in a recent letter to House Ways and Means and Senate Finance leadership. The duties burden industry with increased costs and limit global crop protection research, said the letter.