The U.S. sanctions bill against Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline may not have the chilling effect that lawmakers expect, trade experts said. The U.S. should introduce export controls to bolster the sanctions, the experts said, but those restrictions may be too late because the Russia-Germany pipeline is nearing completion. The bill also may disproportionately sanction German businesses involved in the project instead of the real target, they said, which is Russia.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are seeking new members to serve on seven agricultural trade advisory committees, the agencies said Dec. 18. Members will advise both agencies on trade agreements and trade policy, and will provide technical advice on international trade issues that impact both foreign and domestic production in “specific commodity sectors,” the USTR said. The committees will focus on trade in animals and animal products, fruits and vegetables, grains, feed, seeds, processed foods, sweeteners, tobacco, cotton and peanuts. Applicants must have “significant expertise” in agriculture and international trade and will serve four-year terms. Members must also be willing to serve “without compensation for time, travel or expenses,” the USTR said. The committee holds “frequent” conference calls and generally meets in Washington, D.C., twice a year. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2020, and can be found on the USDA website.
A bipartisan resolution supporting the administration's desire to get reforms to the World Trade Organization, but also urging that the Geneva delegation work with other countries, passed the House Ways and Means Committee on Dec. 17. Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., a leader on free trade in the Democratic caucus, co-authored the bill. He told fellow committee members that he is talking to the Senate to see if they will raise a similar resolution.
The Craft Beverage Modernization Act, which covers beer, wine and spirits, will remain in effect through 2020, instead of expiring at the end of this year. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said that the CBMA made it into a tax extenders package that was negotiated after midnight on Dec. 17. The provision allows importers and exporters a refund on alcohol excise taxes.
The House Ways and Means Committee, with near-unanimity, recommended the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement go to the floor. A vote on the replacement for NAFTA is expected on Dec. 19. For about three hours, Democrats and Republicans praised the rewrite of North America's free trade pact, though many Republicans complained that it took a year to get the opportunity to vote for it.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., for a second time announced he will block the Trump administration’s efforts to transfer export controls of firearms from the State Department to the Commerce Department, according to a Dec. 13 press release. In a Dec. 10 letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Menendez said the military items should not be removed from the State Department’s U.S. Munitions List and should instead be subject to “more rigorous controls” and oversight. The senator previously announced a hold on the transfer in February (see 1903060021).
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., filed cloture Dec. 12 on the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. S. 1790 includes language targeting Huawei and ZTE. McConnell’s cloture motion sets up a likely Senate vote this week. The House approved the measure Wednesday on a 377-48 vote. The House and Senate Armed Services committees released the conference text earlier in the week after months of work to blend the Senate- and House-passed (HR. 2500) measures. The conference version includes a modified text of House-side anti-Huawei language originally sought by Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., that would modify conditions for the Commerce Department to lift the Bureau of Industry and Security’s addition of Huawei to its entity list. It would require Huawei to prove it “sufficiently resolved or settled” supply chain security issues that led to its inclusion on the BIS entity list. The Commerce Department has since approved Huawei-related export licenses for U.S. companies to have their products included in the Chinese telecom equipment maker's products. The conference NDAA also includes Gallagher’s proposal to direct the president to report to Congress on ZTE's compliance with a 2018 agreement that lifted Commerce's ban on U.S. companies selling telecom software and equipment to ZTE.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the senior Democrat on the Finance Committee, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat who voted against NAFTA, have endorsed the NAFTA rewrite, known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The two had said they would oppose the USMCA unless it included a labor enforcement mechanism that carried consequences for Mexican imports from factories that weren't honoring workers' rights.
BOSTON -- The Commerce Department is preparing six initial proposed rules to control exports of emerging technologies and hopes to release at least one before the end of the year, said Karen Nies-Vogel, the director of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Office of Exporter Services, speaking during a Dec. 13 event hosted by the Massachusetts Export Center. A Commerce official said during a technical advisory committee meeting earlier this month that the agency is working on at least three rules (see 1912100019). While Commerce officials have said the technologies would be published this year (see 1910290062), delays have caused the publication to be pushed back.
Although the Senate Finance Committee will still have a mock markup on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, it will happen after the implementing bill has been sent to Congress, so it will be more “mock” than in past deals. The reason the process of Congress weighing in on a trade deal is a mock markup is that under fast track, or Trade Promotion Authority, Congress cannot amend the deals. But typically, the administration sends up a draft implementing bill, and then does incorporate at least some of Congress's suggestions on language before sending the final implementing bill.