Apparel and footwear importers urged House lawmakers to immediately take up legislation to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act, following the Senate passage of AGOA renewal on May 14. The Senate decisively passed the legislation as part of a preference package that includes renewals for the Generalized System of Preferences and two Haiti tariff preference level programs (see 1505140029). “AGOA must be renewed as soon as possible. Because sourcing decisions are made many months in advance, any delay in passage will discourage continued sourcing and new investment, and will result in the loss of trade and jobs in both Africa and the U.S.,” said the letter (here). “These sourcing decisions are actually happening now as Congress is set to vote on the extension.”
The Senate passed Customs Reauthorization and trade preference legislation on May 14 in heavily-anticipated votes that now pave the way for the chamber to approve a motion to open debate on Trade Promotion Authority and Trade Adjustment Assistance. The May 14 votes come on the heels of the defeat of the procedural motion two days earlier by Democrats (see 1505130015). Senate lawmakers struck a deal on May 13 to move ahead with the four bills, said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. (here). The chamber will vote to open debate on TPA and TAA at 2:00 p.m.
The Senate will “resume consideration” of the motion to authorize trade debate on May 13, after Senate Democrats fell in line behind Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and shot down the procedural vote the day before. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., was the lone Democrat to break ranks on May 12 and support the measure, which failed with only 52 votes in favor. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., needed 60 votes to move the chamber to debate on trade legislation.
Since International Trade Today's last legislative update, lawmakers introduced the following trade-related bills, including three from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, that are updated versions of trade legislation introduced in April (see 1504230001):
House Ways and Means ranking member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., called on Congress on May 8 to debate and vote on trade legislation separately, pitting him against Senate Democrats who recently urge leadership in the chamber to roll the four trade bills into one package. Trade Promotion Authority, Trade Adjustment Assistance, a preference package, including renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences, and Customs Reauthorization all moved through committees in both chambers in late April.
Senate Democrats are now pushing hard to merge all four trade bills together before the chamber moves further into the legislative process for any of the bills, and many Republicans are signaling some openness to the new approach. Still, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, one of the key architects of Trade Promotion Authority, hit back strongly against the single package idea on May 7 and it’s so far unclear what strategy Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will take.
The Senate will likely roll all four trade bills into one package in the coming days, said Finance Committee member Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., on May 7. The Senate and House would then likely have to “conference” on the two packages, said Enzi, referring to a legislative procedure to reconcile differences between the two chambers.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 27 - May 1 in case they were missed.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill should extend the Generalized System of Preferences for 10 years, far more than the roughly two-and-a-half year extension approved by committees in both chambers, said a researcher with the conservative Heritage Foundation in a recent blog post (here). In fact, a long-term extension for the Generalized System of Preferences outweighs the importance of retroactivity, said research associate Ryan Olson on April 27.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 20-24 in case they were missed.