The International Trade Administration will receive a major increase in funding from the last fiscal year, a bump from $559 million to $625 million, the more than 4,000-page annual appropriations bill says. Of that, $16.4 million is dedicated for China antidumping and countervailing duty enforcement and compliance, exactly what the administration asked for (see 2203280048).
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International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The omnibus spending bill, the last legislative vehicle of this Congress, did not include a renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program or the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill. The tariff relief will have been gone for more than two years, as a result.
The American Action Forum said it is disappointed that the Democrats are using the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill as bargaining chips to get Trade Adjustment Assistance restored. The lobbying group called TAA controversial, and wrote, "In short, members trade new free trade agreements and new markets for this contested aid program, not common-sense tariff elimination." The AAF said it seems unlikely that the "grand bargain" sought by Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, that would wrap all four of those issues and antidumping reform into one package, can get on the omnibus, which could be passed next week. "It’s time for Congress to stop holding GSP and MTB hostage to its usual bartering and allow these programs to get back to saving Americans money," the group wrote Dec. 13.
Although the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee hearing was ostensibly about using trade agreements to promote environmental causes, Republicans on the dais mostly focused on their frustration that the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill have not been renewed, even though they have been lapsed for nearly two years.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
A U.S. readout of a trade meeting with Bangladesh said that Bangladesh would like to return to the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program -- which has been expired for two years. Bangladesh was cut from the program in 2013, after the disastrous Rana Plaza apparel factory collapse that killed more than 1,000 workers. In the last year it participated, Bangladesh exported almost $35 million worth of goods covered by GSP; it was not in the top 20 countries, as the bulk of Bangladesh's exports to the U.S. are textiles, apparel and footwear, none of which are covered by GSP.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, introduced a bill to extend HOPE and HELP, two Haiti-specific trade preferences, even though they don't expire until 2025.
The top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee said Republican and Democratic staff on the committee "haven’t had extensive discussions on GSP and MTB, and won't, my sense is, as long as there’s an insistence on [linking them to renewing] Trade Adjustment Assistance."
While it's not yet clear if Democrats and Republicans can agree on whether the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and Miscellaneous Tariff Bill will advance this month, House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., says he's not for the proposal to offer a partial refund while importers wait for GSP renewal. The preferences program will have been expired for two years if it does not get renewed this month. He said, "We had a nice conversation with [U.S. Trade Representative] Katherine Tai this morning. We know [renewal] should happen, and we hope it does."