Jimm Phillips

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., introduced legislation on March 5 meant to make sure “U.S. communications infrastructure security is a clear negotiating objective of our country’s trade policy,” he said in a news release. “This legislation would ensure the security of equipment and technology that create the global communications infrastructure are front and center in our trade negotiations, because you can’t have free trade if the global digital infrastructure is compromised.”

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released the results Dec. 21 of its 2016 Special 301 out-of-cycle review on IP infringement, which redesignated major Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba and its Taobao online shopping arm to its blacklist. The annual report included Alibaba/Taobao among 21 online markets, along with ExtraTorrent, The Pirate Bay, Putlocker and other websites that have repeatedly appeared in the USTR rankings. The report also included 19 physical markets engaged in selling counterfeit copyrighted materials, including six markets in China.

A vote to end debate on customs reauthorization legislation and pave the way for a final vote could happen as early as Feb. 10 if Senate negotiations over the inclusion of controversial internet tax provisions continue apace, International Trade Todayhas learned. Supporters of including the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act (PITFA) language in the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (HR-644) have been lobbying in recent weeks to ensure they get at least 60 senators to vote to overturn an expected challenge by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Alexander and Durbin are expected to seek a point of order ruling that an ITFA extension is outside the scope of the customs bill (see 1601140004).