As House and Senate members return to Capitol Hill on April 27, the Democratic strategy on Trade Promotion Authority is still largely unclear, trade experts said in recent days. Organized labor and free trade critics are continuing to scramble to derail more movement on trade legislation, but industry is invigorated by committee approval of TPA, business and trade leaders say. Committees in both chambers signed off on four major trade bills last week (see 1504240021).
The Senate will likely again take up an amendment withdrawn in committee to terminate South Africa from the African Growth and Opportunity Act after three years, said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., at a Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing on April 23. The amendment had been withdrawn in favor of another amendment approved requiring the U.S. Trade Representative conduct an AGOA out-of-cycle review of South Africa. However, the Senate will still consider the three-year removal of South Africa once the Finance Committee-approved preference package hits the Senate floor, said Coons.
The Senate Finance Committee amended and sent to the Senate floor all four major trade bills during an April 22 markup. Trade Promotion Authority, Trade Adjustment Assistance, Customs Reauthorization and a preference package that contains renewals for the Generalized System of Preferences and the African Growth and Opportunity Act were all approved with decisive margins. Among the new provisions added as amendments are a temporary extension of an increase to the Merchandise Processing Fee, Miscellaneous Tariff Bill reform legislation, and tariff changes for performance outwear and athletic footwear.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, predicted a “strong bipartisan vote in favor" of Trade Promotion Authority and the advancement of the other three major trade bills, at the outset of a committee trade markup on April 22. The committee, however, postponed the markup to a later time in the afternoon of April 22, around 4 p.m., following an objection raised by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on the Senate floor.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 13-17 in case they were missed.
Lawmakers introduced the following trade-related bills since International Trade Today's last legislative update:
The U.S. labor movement does not oppose trade in a wide range of circumstances, but Congress should rally to defeat Trade Promotion Authority to prevent the U.S. from entering into the costly free trade agreements the Obama administration is currently negotiating, said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in an April 21 Senate Finance Committee hearing on trade. The AFL-CIO has previously supported the U.S.-Jordan free trade agreement, the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Generalized System of Preferences, Trumka said, in defense of his support for sound trade policy.
The recently introduced Generalized System of Preferences renewal bill would likely retroactively cover all products, except imports from Russia and Bangladesh, filed as GSP-eligible since expiration of the program on July 31, 2013 , said a number of trade experts. Based on an initial reading of the language of the legislation, the bill seems to apply GSP benefits retroactively regardless of the date of liquidation or reliquidation of an entry during the lapse, they said, while reserving total judgment because of the complexity of legislative language.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, will mark up on April 22 four trade bills that emerged from months of trade negotiations on Capitol Hill. The markup comes just a day after the trade legislation hearing on April 21. Committee members will debate and potentially amend Trade Promotion Authority, Trade Adjustment Assistance, Customs Reauthorization and a preference package that includes renewals for the Generalized System of Preferences and the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and ranking member Sandy Levin, D-Mich., formally introduced legislation to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the Generalized System of Preferences and two preference programs for Haiti on April 17. Despite expectations for a companion bill in the Senate, Finance Committee lawmakers haven’t yet followed suit (see 1504170020). The AGOA Extension and Enhancement Act of 2015, HR-1891 (here), would extend the entire AGOA program through 2025, and would also extend the program’s third-country fabric provision on an identical time scale. Apparel importers tried hard over recent months and years to include that long-term extension for the fabric provision, saying the overlapping lifespan will give more reliability to supply chains (see 14091719). The extension would also extend a regional fabric provision.