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.
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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.
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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The Senate will likely again take up an amendment withdrawn in committee to terminate South Africa from the African Growth and Opportunity Act after three years, said Sen.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.