[ August 31, 2016 | King and Spalding] The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (H.R. 644) was signed into law on February 24, 2016. This comprehensive legislation includes the Enforce and Protect Act of 2015 (the “Enforce Act”), which creates a new division and procedures in U.S. Customs & Border Protection (“CBP”)…
[Greg Hinz| August 29, 2016 | Crain’s] Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Tammy Duckworth is doubling down on her opposition to current U.S. trade policies, saying too many Americans have been hurt by bad deals. But incumbent Mark Kirk says she’s guilty of “hypocrisy.” Duckworth’s move comes in a new TV spot focused on downstate Granite…
by Michael Stumo Senator John Cornyn, writing in an op-ed yesterday, vigorously – and oddly – rebutted anti-trade deal arguments that nobody actually makes. In the Houston Chronicle (subscription required), Cornyn wrote: Candidates from both parties have argued that [free trade] this core tenet of capitalism should be completely rewritten, if not entirely erased. The…
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Commerce Department said on Monday truck and bus tires from China were being dumped in the United States at below-market prices, a potential step toward the imposition of duties. [Eric Beech| August 29, 2016 | The New York Times] In a preliminary determination, the department said the tires were being dumped…
by Michael Stumo Are the TTIP talks dead, as Germany’s Vice Chancellor said? Or are they making progress, like the Obama administration countered? My money is on the “dead” side. German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said that the US and EU have not agreed on a single chapter after 14 rounds of Trans-Atlantic Trade and…
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appeared to close the door Thursday on the Senate taking up the Obama administration’s signature Asia-Pacific trade deal during what’s left of the president’s term. [Jordain Carney| August 25, 2016 | The Hill] “The current agreement, the Trans-Pacific [Partnership], which has some serious flaws, will not be acted upon this year,” McConnell…
Former Deputy US Trade Representative Wendy Cutler recently published a Forbes commentary criticizing the national backlash against trade agreements and supporting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade and global governance deal. The article troublingly displays how the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has failed to adjust trade strategy to correct for past mistakes. Snarky straw man…
by Michael Stumo Mitch McConnell told the Kentucky Farm Bureau this week that the TPP will not be acted on this year. This is the Senate Majority Leader’s strongest statement yet against a TPP vote in Lame Duck. And it was not a pandering statement because the American Farm Bureau Federation, a bunch of insurance…
Dan DiMicco, senior trade policy adviser to the Trump campaign and the former chairman and CEO of Nucor Steel, contends that major trade deals like NAFTA have essentially killed free trade in the U.S. [Daily News| August 22, 2016 | Inside US Trade] DiMicco – who left Nucor in 2012 and was named trade adviser to…
The White House is making one last push for passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, most likely during the lame duck session of Congress, after the elections but before the end of the year. This is despite the fact that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton opposes the TPP, as did Bernie Sanders, her rival in the…
