Obama's Budget Highlights Export Promotion, Provides for More CBP Officers, Food Importer Fee

• $62.6 million for the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, more than $10 million more than the 2012 budget. The increase will allow USTDA to fill critical project development gaps impeding implementation of overseas infrastructure projects, the State Department said (here)
• $85.1 million for the U.S. International Trade Commission
• $56 million for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, about $4 million more than the agency’s 2012 budget
• $131 million for the Export-Import Bank, which is a $37 million increase over the 2012 level, according to OMB

The budget "prioritizes completing ongoing trade negotiations, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and opening new negotiations, like the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union, to help strengthen trade ties with the Asia-Pacific region and the European Union," said Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in prepared testimony before an April 11 House Ways and Means Committee hearing. "More resources for trade enforcement will help make sure that our workers and businesses exporting their products and services overseas are operating on a level playing field," Lew said.

The Commerce Department's $8.6 billion budget request is about $1 billion over the 2012 enacted level. It includes:

• $520 million for the International Trade Administration, an increase of about $50 million from the 2013 continuing resolution. The extra funds are for support of the National Export Initiative’s fifth year, OMB said. ITA’s budget also includes $20 million for the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center.
• $112 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security, an $11 million increase from the 2012 enacted level. The extra funds will support the Bureau’s expanded export licensing and enforcement operations, as items shift from the State Department to the Commerce Department jurisdiction, OMB said.
• The Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis get $1.1 billion in the budget. That includes funding for the last of a three-year research and testing phase for the 2020 census, and BEA initiative that would provide new measures of foreign direct investment and service exports, OMB said.

CBP Plan Includes New Officers, Posting Liq Notices Online

The Department of Homeland Security’s $39 billion overall budget is about 2 percent less than the 2012 enacted level. It includes funding for a National Cybersecurity Protection System, construction of National Bio and Agri Defense Facilities and sustains “historic deployments of personnel along U.S. borders,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano in the Department’s budget rollout.

CBP’s proposed budget includes $221 million to add 1,600 new officers and mobile equipment. The funding will help the agency process increased travel and trade and result in the seizure of more counterfeit and fraudulent goods, “further protecting U.S. businesses,” OMB said.

The budget request "preserves core frontline priorities while making critical investments to grow the economy and secure the homeland,” Napolitano said. More than $1 billion in savings came from administrative and mission support areas, including contracts, overtime and directed purchasing, she said.

The plan includes a provision for the agency to approve requests from interested parties to reimburse CBP for enhanced inspectional services. Under current law, CBP can only receive reimbursement when the volume or value cleared through the facility is insufficient to justify the availability of CBP services and the State’s governor approves. The administration’s FY 2014 plan would allow companies and government agencies to reimburse CBP for inspection services in the air, land, and sea environments in both domestic and foreign locations. It would allow CBP to collect reimbursable expenses including salaries, benefits, temporary duty costs, relocation and, as applicable, housing, infrastructure, equipment and training. According to CBP, the change would let the agency provide services to requesting parties that it wouldn’t otherwise be able to in the absence of reimbursement.

The budget also includes a proposal to post weekly liquidation bulletins online instead of at ports of entry.

FDA Proposes New Food Importer Fee

Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration asked for new funding to cover its food safety inspections, which would be mostly covered by new fees, including a new food importer fee (here). The fee would “improve the safety of the food supply as well as ensure the smooth and predictable entry of safe foods into the United States, thus enhancing trade by domestic and overseas trading partners,” FDA said. The agency is also proposing a user fee for food facility registration and inspection.