President Barack Obama recently unveiled a new strategy to boost U.S. farm exports by dedicating more federal resources to strengthening the agricultural sector across the country (here). The Obama administration will be bringing more foreign buyers and trade experts to rural American to discuss export opportunities, said a White House fact sheet. The strategy, which is part of a White House effort announced last year (see 14021015), will include outreach to American farmers and ranchers on customs filing and calculations for export shipping costs. The Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration is creating a new export advisory team to increase U.S. exports, Commerce said in a statement (here). The administration's plans focus largely on export financing and infrastructure boosts, as well.
The FCC Wireless Bureau gave LL License Holdings until Dec. 13, 2016, to meet tribal lands bidding credit (TLBC) construction deadlines for two 700 MHz A-block licenses in South Dakota, to provide wireless service to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Santee Sioux of Nebraska reservations. The company sought an extension in May 2012, one month before its three-year TLBC construction deadline was set to expire. “While the Commission’s stringent TLBC construction rules are designed to ensure deployment of service in a short length of time, we find that the public interest weighs in favor of making available to these tribal communities the same advanced, interoperable 700 MHz LTE service offerings being deployed elsewhere,” the bureau said in a letter released Thursday.
The FTC needs to clarify Section 5 of the FTC Act to provide a clear framework on what authority is given to the agency, said Republican FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright Thursday at a symposium on Section 5. Wright and several other panelists, including former FTC attorneys, backed clarification of the section, which prohibits ‘‘unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.’’ Wright said it's the “most important challenge” facing the agency, because failure to have a clear definition allows varied interpretations among commissioners. He said he would seek a vote on adopting a proposed policy statement within the next week to remedy the issue before congressional action is taken. Though there was support at the symposium for Section 5 to be more clearly defined, some panelists, including the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Jessica Rich, applauded Section 5's flexibility, which she said allows the FTC to “keep up with the changing times and different harms" that emerge.
On Feb. 24 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
Assessment of the knowledge of and engagement with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition by Senate Commerce Committee members is likely to produce the substance of Wednesday’s related hearing, Internet governance experts said in interviews. Some experts told us that Congress should be wary of becoming too involved in the IANA transition; others said more hearings with ICANN stakeholders -- rather than ICANN and NTIA’s leadership -- should follow. Scheduled to testify at the hearing are ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade, NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling and attorney David Gross of Wiley Rein on behalf of the Internet Governance Coalition (IGC) (see 1502230048).
Assessment of the knowledge of and engagement with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition by Senate Commerce Committee members is likely to produce the substance of Wednesday’s related hearing, Internet governance experts said in interviews. Some experts told us that Congress should be wary of becoming too involved in the IANA transition; others said more hearings with ICANN stakeholders -- rather than ICANN and NTIA’s leadership -- should follow. Scheduled to testify at the hearing are ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade, NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling and attorney David Gross of Wiley Rein on behalf of the Internet Governance Coalition (IGC) (see 1502230048).
U.S. free trade agreements are giving U.S. producers and consumers far easier access to global inputs as well as foreign markets, and the U.S. must stay committed to closing the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other trade pacts, said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a trade report released on Feb. 12 (here). U.S. FTAs are integrating U.S. industry into a global supply chain, while boosting domestic manufacturing, said the report. U.S. agriculture is also reaping the benefits of U.S. FTAs through increasing exports abroad, the chamber said.
Consumers have a wide range of deals to choose from this weekend as CE companies and retailers are dividing their promotional dollars between Valentine’s and Presidents Day sale campaigns.
Lawmakers introduced the following trade-related bills since International Trade Today's last legislative update:
PCIA is not taking any position on net neutrality or whether the FCC should reclassify broadband as a Communications Act Title II service, PCIA President Jonathan Adelstein said Tuesday during a news conference. The former commissioner left before the agency took up the first set of rules in 2010. AT&T and Verizon executives have warned that reclassification will mean less investment in networks.