A group of 16 U.S. Senators voiced concern over Mexican poultry antidumping policy, in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. At issue is preliminary results announced by the Mexican ministry that would impose duties on U.S. poultry ranging from 64% to 129%. The duties haven't yet been applied, but a final decision will have to be reached by August. According to the letter, the duty is based on the “average cost of production,” and uses a flawed assumption that every part of the chicken should be priced the same, which would mean premium parts would be valued at the same price as the chicken feet.
The Senate confirmed Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz and Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen to new terms on the FTC, in a vote March 29. Leibowitz was first appointed to the Commission in 2004 and became chairman in 2009. Ohlhausen has been a partner at Wilkinson Barker since 2009, focused on privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity. She previously was FTC director, Office of Policy Planning.
President Barack Obama signed HR-4281, the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012, on March 30, 2012, which gives a three-month extension to surface transportation programs. Funding for transportation programs would have stopped as of March 31, 2012, without an extension. President Obama's office had voiced frustration over the passage of a stop-gap rather than a longer-term transportation bill that the Senate had already passed. It's not enough to use short-term band-aids to deal with America's infrastructure future, the President's office said. Rep. John Mica (R-Fl), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and sponsor of the legislation, said the extension was necessary to keep transportation projects moving while lawmakers move toward legislation that reduces the size of government, streamlines the project approval process and provides flexibility for states to fund their priorities.
Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., voiced some concern over efforts to grant Russia permanent normal trade relations (PNTR), during a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing March 27, 2012. Burton, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia said he was concerned over the timing of graduating Russia from the Jackson-Vanik amendment, but also said he worried about what the alternative would be. Burton said if Russia is graduated from Jackson-Vanik, the U.S. should continue to support democracy and human rights in Russia.
On March 27, 2012, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights approved for full committee consideration the Global Online Freedom Act of 2011, which would prohibit export of telecommunications equipment that would help countries to censor and track its citizens. If passed, H.R. 3605 would result in a list of countries that restrict Internet use. Those countries would then be prohibited from import censorship technology from the U.S. The specific countries and technologies aren't yet identified.
Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) both came out in favor of the President's decision to suspend Argentina’s benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). The Administration’s action is a result of Argentina’s refusal to pay a $300 million award ordered by an arbitration panel to U.S. companies that invested in Argentina.
On March 27, 2012, the Homeland Security Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee held a markup of H.R. 4251, the Securing Maritime Activities through Risk-based Targeting for (SMART) Port Security Act. The bill was introduced last week by Rep. Candacie Miller, R-Mich, to secure the global supply chain, find cost savings and improve maritime security.
On March 20, 2012, Reps. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio and Ted Poe, R-Texas, introduced H.R. 4216, the Foreign Counterfeit Protection Act. The bill would allow Customs and Border Protection to exchange important information with rights holders in order to protect intellectual property (IP) rights and to uphold the integrity of trade. H.R. 4216 would improve efforts to identify merchandise or retail packaging that infringes or copyright or bears a counterfeit trademark. The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
All 16 high-tech military parts purchased from China via the Internet were suspected to be counterfeit, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report released Monday. In fact, four of the bogus parts were sent in response to requests for part numbers that intentionally did not exist, the GAO report said. The parts came from 13 different Chinese vendors. In a letter to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, dated Feb. 21 but released March 26, the GAO said such counterfeit parts “have the potential to seriously disrupt the Department of Defense supply chain, delay missions … and ultimately endanger the lives of our troops.”
On March 22, 2012, the following trade-related bills and resolutions were introduced: