U.S. Chamber's International Policy Update (February 11, 2011)
International Policy Update
In this Newsletter...
Kirk Testifies before the House Ways and Means Committee
President Obama Addresses U.S. Chamber
China Currency Legislation Introduced in House, Senate
Andean Trade Preferences, Trade Adjustment Assistance Set to Expire
Business Community Weighs in on Transpacific Partnership Talks
Business Supports Rules in FTAs, BITs on Capital Controls
ChamberPost: This Week in Trade
On Wednesday February 9, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk testified for the first time before the House Ways and Means Committee, offering some details on the Administration's trade agenda, including the pending free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. He said the president intends to submit the Korea-U.S. FTA to Congress "in the next few weeks" and hopes lawmakers will approve it "this spring." This appears to be consistent with supporters' goal of congressional passage by July 1, the date a similar pact between Korea and the European Union will take effect. The U.S.-Korea FTA Business Coalition, for which the Chamber serves as secretariat, is holding dozens of meetings with members of Congress, extending its nationwide program of grassroots events, and conducting a host of other activities to build the already broad support for the agreement.
Regarding the FTAs with Colombia and Panama, Kirk echoed recent comments by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the White House hopes to find a way forward this year. "I can tell you today that the President has directed me to immediately intensify engagement with Colombia and Panama with the objective of resolving the outstanding issues as soon as possible this year and bringing those agreements to Congress for consideration immediately thereafter," Kirk said. However, he also warned that those issues are "serious" and that "any timetable will be contingent on the successful resolution of these issues." He referenced labor rights and anti-labor union violence in Colombia and said that country must "come to the table prepared to take additional meaningful actions," but he gave no further indication of what those might be. Staff from USTR and the Department of Labor will visit Bogota next week to discuss these issues with Colombian officials. Separately, a delegation of leaders from the Latin America Trade Coalition, for which the Chamber serves as secretariat, will travel to Colombia and Panama next week to underscore the broad support of U.S. business and agriculture for the two accords.
• Testimony of U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk
• Camp Calls on Administration to Act on Pending Trade Agreements
• Camp Opening Statement: Hearing on President Obama's Trade Policy Agenda
• Brady Statement for the Record: Hearing on President Obama's Trade Policy Agenda
• Colombia Welcomes Ambassador Kirk's Remarks
• U.S. Chamber: Now Is The Time to Act on All Three Trade Agreements
• Colombia: Continuing Progress that is Making all Colombians Safer
On February 7, President Obama strolled across Lafayette Park to speak to the U.S. Chamber. Tom Donohue noted the tradition of Presidents visiting the Chamber goes back to President William Howard Taft in 1912. "I'm here today," the President said, "because I'm convinced we can and must work together." We welcome and take seriously his commitment to working with the American business community, and there's no better place to deepen that relationship than right here at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The President touched on a wide array of issues, including global competition, encouraging innovation, rebuilding our infrastructure, strengthening education, and increasing exports.
"As far as exports are concerned," President Obama said, "that means seeking new opportunities and opening new markets for your goods. And I will tell you I will go anywhere anytime to be a booster for American businesses, American workers and American products. We recently signed export deals with India and China that will support more than 250,000 jobs here in the United States. We finalized a trade agreement with South Korea that will support at least 70,000 American jobs. And by the way, it's a deal that has unprecedented support from business and labor, Democrats and Republicans. That's the kind of deal that I will be looking for as we pursue trade agreements with Panama and Colombia, as we work to bring Russia into the international trading system. Those are going to be our top priorities because we believe Americans have the best products and the best businesses, and if we're out there selling and we're out there hustling, there's no reason why we can't do a lot better than we're doing right now when it comes to our exports. Read more.
Yesterday, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act of 2011 was introduced in both the House and Senate. In the House, the legislation was introduced by Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI), and Representatives Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Tim Ryan (D-OH) with 98 other cosponsors, with 27 Republicans and 74 Democrats sponsoring the House bill. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) introduced the companion legislation in the Senate. Like H.R. 2378, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act of 2009, this new legislation would direct the Department of Commerce to treat an undervalued currency as a prohibited export subsidy, thereby increasing pressure on Commerce to implement countervailing duties (CVDs) against a much broader range of Chinese exports.
The
Treasury Department's February 4 decision to once again refrain from
labeling China a currency manipulator in its biannual Report to Congress
on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies predictably raised
the ire of many currency legislation supporters. Treasury said the
yuan's 6% rate of appreciation against the dollar since June 2010 is
"insufficient," but noted that the RMB is now "appreciating more rapidly
against the dollar on a real, inflation-adjusted basis, at a rate which
if sustained would amount to more than 10 percent per year."
During
a February 9 Ways and Means hearing with U.S. Trade Representative Ron
Kirk, Levin expressed frustration with USTR's February 4 decision and
said the Obama administration should "take a more assertive stance to
address China's currency manipulation -- including by filing a WTO case,
applying countervailing import duties in appropriate cases, and
formally designating China as a currency manipulator."
On February 3, the U.S. Business Coalition for TPP sent a letter to Gene Sperling, Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, signed by the Chamber and over 100 companies and associations, urging the United States to pursue a high-standard Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. The letter highlights the importance of high standards and commercially meaningful outcomes in all areas, including market access, intellectual-property and investment protection, simplification of trade, regulatory coherence and fair competition. "Achieving a strong outcome in both traditional and new areas is vital to enhance the competitiveness of American enterprises in the rapidly growing Asia-Pacific region and to support and generate American exports and jobs in the decades to come," emphasized Laura Lane, Co-Chair of the TPP Coalition and Managing Director and Head of International Government Affairs with Citigroup, Inc.
In addition, the intellectual property task force of the U.S. Business Coalition for TPP sent an additional letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk underscoring the broad support of the business community for intellectual property commitments in the TPP that at a minimum equal those in the Korea-U.S. FTA.
Let's Not Pick Winners and Losers on Trade by JP Fielder
Will Unions Stand with the President on Jobs and Trade? by Patrick Kilbride
Who Supports the U.S.-Colombia Trade Agreement? by John Murphy
Upcoming Event
On March 8, from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m., the Chamber will host "The Case for U.S. Leadership on Trade: Perspectives of Former USTRs on Business and the Trade Agenda." Former U.S. Trade Representatives Susan Schwab, Charlene Barshefsky, Carla Hills, and Clayton Yeutter will join us. To RSVP please email Stefanie Westerman at swesterman@uschamber.com.
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