GHY Tradelines

(The Hill – Vicki Needham)

U.S. trade officials are expecting to cut a wide swath through a broad trade agenda this year, all probably before Congress leaves town in August.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk has three major issues on his agenda — implementing the three free-trade agreements passed last fall, opening up the Russian market to U.S. goods and services and wrapping up negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Russia’s ascension to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is topping the agenda for the Obama administration and business groups.  “It’s our top trade legislative priority for the year,” Chris Wenk, senior director for International Policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told The Hill on Friday.  The Coalition for U.S.-Russia Trade — a group of businesses pushing for the changes needed to move forward — is “starting an aggressive ramp up reaching out to the Hill,” he said. Read more here.
 

(Bloomberg)

The U.S. economy will slow early this year from the pace at the end of 2011, then accelerate and finish with annual growth of less than 3 percent, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue said as the nation’s largest business group offered its forecast for 2012.

“America’s most pressing economic challenge is the lack of sufficient growth to create jobs, expand incomes, reduce government deficits, and fund essential programs,” Donohue said today in Washington during his annual speech on the state of U.S. business. [...]

Increased trade could provide more opportunities for growth, Donohue said. The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement with eight other nations can be completed this year, and free-trade accords are possible with Brazil, Egypt, India and Indonesia, he said.

U.S. businesses also will benefit from Russia being granted permanent normal trade relations after meeting conditions to join the World Trade Organization. Read more here.
 

(World Trade Interactive)

In a Nov. 30 speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk laid out five areas of emphasis for the Obama administration’s trade policy. These topics are largely the same as those set forth in the 2011 Trade Policy Agenda the White House released in March, and Kirk’s remarks revealed no significant new initiatives.

The first two issues relate to free trade agreements: implementation of the recently approved FTAs with Korea, Colombia and Panama, and conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. “We think TPP will be a deeply ambitious, groundbreaking trade arrangement, with binding commitments to market access across all sectors,” Kirk said. In addition, “TPP partners are taking on the latest challenges that our companies and workers are facing in the 21st century, many of which have never before been addressed in a trade agreement.” These include regulatory coherence, small and medium-sized businesses, supply chains, competitiveness, business facilitation, wildlife conservation, digital technology and state-owned enterprises. Kirk also indicated that the Obama administration “will discuss additional negotiating authority that may be necessary” to ensure congressional approval of the TPP “at the appropriate time.” Read more here.
 

(Agence France-Presse)

Powerful industry groups on Sept. 21 ratcheted up efforts to stop Congress from hitting China with sanctions, warning the move could spark a trade war.

Fifty-one trade groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, warned Senate lawmakers that any legislation authorizing sanctions over China’s currency policies would hurt business at home.

U.S. lawmakers have long accused China of rigging international trade by keeping the yuan artificially undervalued, but heading into an election year some are saying the time for talk is over. Read more here.
 

(World Trade Interactive)

President Obama announced Sept. 8 a broad plan to increase domestic employment. The president’s proposal made little mention of trade initiatives, in contrast to similar job-creating efforts announced earlier in the week by other interested parties.

In a speech detailing his plan, which will be sent to Congress the week of Sept. 12, the president made only passing reference to trade as one of several areas where the government can act to improve U.S. competitiveness. “It’s time to clear the way for a series of trade agreements that would make it easier for American companies to sell their products in Panama and Colombia and South Korea – while also helping the workers whose jobs have been affected by global competition,” he said.

“If Americans can buy Kias and Hyundais, I want to see folks in South Korea driving Fords and Chevys and Chryslers. I want to see more products sold around the world stamped with the three proud words: ‘Made in America.’ That’s what we need to get done.” However, the president has delayed submitting FTA implementing legislation to Congress in an effort to ensure that an extension of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program is also approved.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, on the other hand, put the expansion of trade and global commerce at the top of the list of things Congress and the Obama administration should do to “spur faster job growth.” Implementing the three pending FTAs, which the Chamber said could create 380,000 jobs, should be the first order of business.

The Chamber also called on policymakers to complete export control reforms, swiftly conclude negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, initiate talks on eliminating all tariffs on goods trade with the European Union, and pass a patent reform bill (which both the House and Senate have now done). Read more here.
 

(American Shipper)

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce this year plans to develop recommendations for improving U.S. companies’ connectivity to the global supply chain and push for a tariff-free zone between the United States and the European Union.

Those were among the key developments in the annual “State of American Business” speech in which Chamber President Thomas Donahue outlined the business federation’s 2011 policy goals, many of which follow familiar themes of restraining regulatory activity, expanding U.S. trade, rebuilding physical and intellectual infrastructure and reducing the national debt. […]

Reducing tariffs to zero in the $600 billion transatlantic market would serve as a major economic stimulus to both the U.S. and European Union economies, motivate other countries to move forward with a global trade agreement, and set the stage for similar agreements with other partners, Donahue said. Read more here.

(CBSA)

1. This memorandum has been revised to include the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) title. It has also been amended to explain how Other Government Department (OGD) goods will utilize the Order.

2. The process associated with the report and release of consist sheet consolidation, which was previously contained in Memorandum D17-1-2 Reporting and Accounting for Low Value Commercial Goods (Under CAN$1,600) and Goods Eligible for Release Under the Courier Imports Remission Order, has been added to the memorandum.

3. The Courier Imports Remission Order Regulations, which were part of the Memorandum D8-2-16, have been removed. They can now be found at the Justice Canada website.