Legislative update: Trade measures play musical chairs ahead of elections
July 9, 2008
World Trade\Interactive
There are a number of trade-related measures still pending in Congress, but only some of them are likely to see action in a legislative year shortened by the presidential and congressional election campaigns. Few if any major votes are anticipated ahead of the August recess, but behind-the-scenes work on many of the bills continues in hopes of advancing them later this summer.
FTAs. Supporters of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement are continuing to push for a congressional vote, but it appears increasingly likely that the agreement will not be taken up until after this November’s elections. In the meantime supporters are attempting to lay the groundwork for a successful vote, such as advancing a bill to extend and expand the Trade Adjustment Assistance program. They have also pointed to the Colombian military’s rescue of three Americans held hostage since 2003 by FARC rebels as evidence of the Colombian government’s efforts to address violence in the country. Critics, however, have said the rescue was irrelevant to their concerns about anti-labor union violence. A July 1 letter to President Bush from six senators said the White House should shift its focus from passing the Colombia FTA to addressing issues that “make such an agreement unsupportable.”
Prospects for congressional approval this year of the FTA with Korea are dim, as lawmakers continue to have concerns about access to the Korean market for beef and automobiles. But Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Christopher Padilla said this week in a speech to the American Enterprise Institute that these concerns are ultimately secondary. Padilla warned that a failure to approve the Korea FTA would exclude the U.S. from the tide of economic integration sweeping through Asia, where countries are moving quickly to liberalize intraregional trade and where the market share of U.S. exports has dropped by 50 percent in the last 20 years. Such an exclusion “would leave leadership on the Asian economic playing field largely to China,” he said, which would have “the opportunity to shape Asia’s economic architecture as it would prefer, rather than as we might like it.” Approving the Korea FTA, on the other hand, “could spark a trend toward more comprehensive Asian trade agreements, leading toward a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific that includes the United States.” Padilla said Congress owes it to Korea, a staunch ally that has pursued the FTA at significant political cost, to at least hold a hearing on the agreement.
Preference Programs. The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on trade preference programs June 12 and a similar hearing is expected in the House Ways and Means Committee later this year. Legislation is expected to be introduced later this year to extend and perhaps revise the Generalized System of Preferences and the Andean Trade Preference Act, both of which are scheduled to expire Dec. 31. A CQ Today article reports that while some lawmakers are interested in making substantive changes to these programs, the rapidly dwindling legislative calendar could push any such efforts into next year.
On June 26 legislation (H.R. 6387) was introduced in the House that would grant duty-free treatment to imports of certain products made in designated reconstruction opportunity zones in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A similar bill (S. 2776) was introduced in the Senate March 13, and both are generally supported by the Bush administration. These bills could ultimately be added to legislation extending other preference programs.
Trade Enforcement. Senate Finance has still not held a planned markup of a trade enforcement bill (S. 1919) introduced by Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. Efforts by the House Ways and Means Committee to develop its own trade enforcement bill continue to yield little progress, partly due to politics and partly because there are some controversial measures under consideration. As a result, it is increasingly unlikely that Congress will send a unified trade enforcement bill to the White House by the end of the year.
In related news, the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Finance and Banking committees, who have been at odds for nearly a year over how to advance legislation addressing foreign currency valuation issues, met recently to discuss their respective proposals. They agreed that the Bush administration’s approach is “inadequate and in need of reform” and pledged to continue working together on legislation but offered no details on how and when they might be able to break their impasse.
Trade Adjustment Assistance. Senate Finance Chairman Baucus said July 8 that the committee is planning a July 23 markup of a bill to extend and expand the TAA program, one of the economic stimulus measures Democratic leaders want the White House to agree to in exchange for a possible vote on the Colombia FTA. Baucus has stressed that a final bill must extend TAA benefits to services workers, boost funding for retraining programs and increase health insurance tax credits.
CBP Reauthorization. Senate Finance held a hearing June 24 in preparation for a U.S. Customs and Border Protection reauthorization bill, which could be introduced this month. Such a 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. The House Ways and Means Committee has also expressed interest in a CBP reauthorization bill and held an executive session with CBP officials in lieu of a hearing.
Miscellaneous Trade Bill. Although the House Ways and Means Committee appears to be nearly ready to take up a miscellaneous trade bill, the Senate Finance Committee has made little progress in moving a bill forward. Supporters of some individual measures proposed for inclusion in the MTB, including the Affordable Footwear Act (H.R. 3934), which would eliminate import duties on certain footwear, say they are now looking for other legislative vehicles to move those bills this year.
Intellectual Property Rights. The Senate Judiciary Committee may hold a hearing this month on a bill the House passed May 8 (H.R. 4279) that seeks to improve federal IPR enforcement efforts. Separately, Inside US Trade reports that Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, expects to soon introduce his own IPR bill, which could be attached to the CBP reauthorization bill the Finance Committee is developing.
Product Safety. The House and Senate held formal conference negotiations in late June on a final consumer product safety bill, which is expected to increase criminal and civil penalties, tighten standards and impose new reporting requirements.
Food and Drug Safety. House and Senate committees are continuing to develop legislation aimed at improving the safety of imported food, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices. The bills appear to be largely similar, but it remains to be seen if there is enough time left on the congressional schedule this year to get a compromise bill to the president’s desk.
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