Movement On Customs Legislation!

By Matthew McMullan
Nov 19 2015 |
A container ship is unloaded at the Port of Baltimore in 2013. | Photo courtesy to government of Maryland

Will long-stalled enforcement upgrades actually get going on Capitol Hill?

A few months ago, Capitol Hill had one thing and one thing only on its mind: trade.

The debate over “fast track” Trade Promotion Authority – the legislative groundwork necessary before the White House could present the Trans-Pacific Partnership to Congress for an up-or-down vote – was a loud one before it passed. That’s fine by us; most of world’s consumers lie outside the United States, as the United States Trade Representative is fond of saying. And America’s manufacturers want to do business with them.

It’s important, of course, to make sure the rules are fair when we do.

Back then, we at the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) were pulling hard for a currency manipulation provision that was pushed by Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan), which didn’t make it out of the Senate. We were bummed.

But some good legislation did make it out of the fast-track debate: updated rules for trade and customs enforcement. Bills made it out of both the House and Senate.

We were particularly interested in the Senate version, which would significantly speed up the time it takes to file, prosecute, and receive a resolution to a case at the International Trade Commission, so that industries affected by import surges won’t have to wait until the damage is already done – and workers are already laid off – to get some relief.

The Senate version would also treat currency manipulation as a subsidy that could warrant imposing countervailing duties on dubiously cheap imports.

Progress on the customs legislation has been long-stalled. But there’s some hopeful news: Ways and Means Trade Subcomittee Chairman Dave Reichert – whose committee will be responsible on the House side for getting that customs legislation moving – told reporters that he’s looking at ways to get it to conference.

That’s the next step the customs bill will need to take before it can move any closer to becoming law.

We certainly hope they hurry up. While legislative sausage-making is a slow process, there are real-world ramifications for American businesses hurt by unfair trade. Case in point: a letter, sent by 12 senators to the Obama administration, urging the White House to crack down on imported Chinese-extruded aluminum products.

According to the letter:

Chinese producers have been actively evading AD and CVD orders through tactics like making minor additions to the alloy content of their products. This is unfair and harms U.S. companies that play by the rules, including domestic extruders.

Tougher customs rules would make it a lot harder for those Chinese producers to get away with such shenanigans.