On June 14, 2010, the Senate amended and passed the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act (S. 1660), a bill to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to reduce the emissions of formaldehyde from composite wood products.
On June 14, 2010, the Senate continued its consideration of amendments to the House-passed H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act (the Tax Extenders or Jobs bill). On June 15, 2010, the Senate is expected to continue its consideration of pending amendments to H.R. 4213.
The following are the trade-related hearings scheduled for June 14-19, 2010:
On June 10, 2010, Representative Pascrell (D) and Representative King (R), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, introduced H.R. 5498, The WMD Prevention and Preparedness Act of 2010. This legislation would make progress toward implementing the recommendations of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission and improve U.S. efforts to prevent, deter, detect, and respond to an attack by a weapon of mass destruction.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Peterson (D) has released a letter signed by more than 70 pro-democracy Cuban leaders that strongly encouraged passage of H.R. 4645, the Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act. H.R. 4645 would facilitate expanded U.S. agricultural trade with Cuba and allow Americans to travel more freely to Cuba.
On June 5, 2010, the American Apparel and Footwear Association submitted written testimony in response to the House Ways and Means Committee’s Trade Subcommittee May 20, 2010 hearing on Customs Trade Facilitation and Enforcement in a Secure Environment. In addition, the Trade Remedy and Reform Action Coalition submitted written comments on a prospective duty assessment system for the same hearing.
On June 12, 2010, the President sent a letter to House and Senate leaders urging swift action on several priorities to give assistance to U.S. small business, including the Tax Extenders bill, new small business legislation, proposals to bolster U.S. infrastructure and crate clean energy jobs in the U.S., etc.
On June 8, 2010, Senators Brown (D) and Schumer (D) urged the Commerce Department to move forward with an investigation of China’s currency manipulation and its effect on the U.S. paper industry. In a letter, the Senators called for the Department to make a final ruling on whether or not it would investigate whether China’s currency policy provides an unfair subsidy for Chinese paper products that should be remedied through trade measures.
On June 10, 2010, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on “The U.S.-China Economic Relationship: A New Approach for a New China.” The only witness testifying at the hearing was Treasury Secretary Geithner. During this hearing, Committee members expressed dissatisfaction with the Administration’s progress on China and pressed the Treasury Secretary on issues such as currency, intellectual property rights protection, China’s protectionist indigenous innovation provisions, etc.
On June 10, 2010, the Senate reached a unanimous-consent agreement to resume consideration of amendments to the House-passed H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act (the Tax Extenders or Jobs bill) on June 14, 2010.