Our latest update on the status of major trade legislation in Congress focuses on the Colombia FTA and consumer product safety.
FTAs. President Bush and other administration officials indicated last week that they are likely to submit legislation to implement the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement shortly after lawmakers return from their Easter recess March 31. Such a step would be designed to ensure that Congress votes on the Colombia FTA before the congressional and presidential election campaigns begin to heat up this fall. However, Democratic leaders have not yet reached an agreement with the White House on allowing the bill to go forward, and it remains to be seen how they will react if the administration submits the measure without such an agreement. One possibility is that they will change the House rules so that the expedited consideration procedures outlined under trade promotion authority do not apply. This would certainly affect the Colombia FTA and could have a negative impact on other trade initiatives this year as well, including the Panama and South Korea FTAs.
Trade Adjustment Assistance. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has made it clear that passing a bill to extend and expand the Trade Adjustment Assistance program is his top trade priority and must happen before action is taken on any FTA bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made the same argument last week. While the Bush administration has said it supports TAA reform, it threatened to veto a bill passed by the House last October over concerns that it would expand program coverage too much. U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said recently that action on TAA should not be a prerequisite for approving any of the three pending FTAs.
Product Safety. The Senate approved March 6 by a 79-13 vote a comprehensive product safety bill (S. 2663) that reflects a number of changes from the version passed by the Senate Commerce Committee in late 2007 (see the March 10 issue of WTI for more details). The bill will have to be reconciled with a House-passed measure before it can be sent to President Bush, and negotiations are expected to begin in April.
Customs Reauthorization. The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing March 13 in preparation for a U.S. Customs and Border Protection reauthorization bill expected to be drafted later this year. Statements at the hearing from Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Charles Grassley indicate that this bill could include provisions on the safety of imported foods and consumer products, supply chain security programs, intellectual property rights enforcement, duty collections, trade data submission requirements, duty drawback simplification, and CBP staffing and resources for commercial functions.
China. Legislation to impose certain measures in response to China’s alleged undervaluation of its currency could still see some sort of action this year. However, lawmakers have numerous competing priorities and a relatively short legislative calendar, and there is growing concern about the negative effects that punitive measures on China may have on U.S. consumers and companies. There are currently no hearings scheduled on any of the pending China bills.
Miscellaneous Trade Bill. Comments are due by April 10 on the miscellaneous trade bill being assembled in the House, which will primarily suspend or reduce duties on imports of products not made domestically. The Senate has not yet issued a call for the introduction of similar measures in that chamber.
Other issues that could be taken up by Congress this year but have seen no recent movement include the following.
• Legislation to extend the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act, which expires Sept. 30, and the Generalized System of Preferences, which expires Dec. 31, is expected later this year. A yet-unscheduled hearing on these two programs could also cover the New Partnership for Development Act of 2007, which would eliminate duties and quotas on imports from the world’s poorest countries. Bills to amend the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act and the African Growth and Opportunity Act remain a possibility as well.
• A bill (H.R. 3887) establishing a Jan. 15, 2009, deadline for the Department of Labor to submit to Congress and make available to the public a list of foreign-made goods believed to be produced with forced or child labor in violation of international standards, which could expand the scope of products prohibited from entry into the U.S., passed the House Dec. 4 by a 405-2 vote and is now pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• The Affordable Footwear Act (H.R. 3934/S. 2372) would give duty-free treatment to certain footwear imports. This measure recently gained its 100th co-sponsor in the House.
World Trade/Interactive
