Wyden Wants GSP, TAA Renewal

Senator Ron Wyden

Posted Friday, June 7, 2024 8:32 pm

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore) is hoping to produce bipartisan legislation reauthorizing and improving the long-expired Generalized System of Preferences program.

But he and other Democrats on the committee said any renewal of GSP will have to include reauthorization of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program for workers who lose their jobs because on imports. TAA expired in 2021.

Sen. Wyden said he hopes to move in an expeditious way on legislation similar to that approved by the Senate with strong bipartisan support three years ago.

The lapse of GSP in 2020 has resulted in US companies shifting supply chains back to China, he said. “If the United States is serious about moving away from Chinese manufactured goods and creating good-paying red, white, and blue jobs, renewing GSP is a good place to start.”

AGOA

Sen. Wyden also touched on renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which expires next year, saying Congress will need to look at how to encourage the use of the program and how to modernize it to address digital trade and innovation.

Both Sen. Wyden and ranking Republican Mike Crapo (Idaho) said the Administration should elevate the trade partnership negotiations with Kenya into a full free trade agreement.

GSP renewal should not be controversial, Sen. Crapo said, and it should be accompanied by AGOA renewal. However, he rejected the idea of linking TAA to renewal of preferences programs. TAA, he said, has always been a trade off from Trade Promotion Authority. President Biden is not seeking TPA.

Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) were emphatic that they will not support renewal of GSP without TAA. Sen. Warren suggested that GSP should not be renewed retroactively as it traditionally has, because the tariff refunds that would go to US importers could pay for TAA renewal.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here

E-edition

Vol 44 No. 26 June 24, 2024

View this issue

Browse other issues

Recent stories

Houthi - PRC - Oman Weapons Axis Targeted

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating two individuals and five entities that have facilitated weapons procurement for Ansarallah, commonly referred to as the Houthis. OFAC is also designating one individual and one company, as well as identifying one vessel, that have facilitated the shipment of commodities, the sale of which provides an important funding stream to the Houthis that aids in their weapons procurement.

Used Cooking Oil Import Surge Questioned

The United States last year imported 3 billion pounds of UCO, half of which came from China – up from a total of 200 million pounds imported in 2020. A bipartisan group of senators is calling on the Biden Administration to address this surge in imports.

Japan Back on Currency Monitoring List

The Treasury Department reported yesterday that no countries currently meet the definition of currency manipulation, but Japan has been returned to the list of countries to watch. In its semi-annual Report on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States, Treasury concluded that no major US trading partner manipulated the rate of exchange between its currency and the US dollar for purposes of preventing effective balance of payments adjustments or gaining unfair competitive advantage in international trade during the four quarters through December 2023.

Schmidtlein New ITC Chair

Rhonda Schmidtlein is the new Chair of the International Trade Commission, replacing David Johanson, whose term as Chair expired on June 16. She previously served as Chair from January 13, 2017, through June 16, 2018.

Call to Reinvigorate Service Trade Talks

The outgoing chair of the World Trade Organization’s Council for Trade in Services presented many recommendations yesterday for “reinvigorating” the work in services trade, which appears to have become a casualty due to the pursuit of joint statement initiatives instead of multilateral processes, said people familiar with the developments.

WTO Food Security Talks Roiled by "Legitimacy" Concerns

Sharp divisions marked an informal meeting convened by Brazil at the World Trade Organization to discuss the permanent solution for public stockholding programs for food security, with one country saying that there is no legitimacy to the Brazilian informal process, according to people familiar with the discussions. The informal meeting appears to have been embroiled over procedural issues, after India challenged the “legitimacy” of the process, said people familiar with the developments.

More news

Wyden Wants GSP, TAA Renewal

Comments

USTR seeks Americas Partnership Comments

Senate Dems offer TAA Reauthorization

Outbound Investment Rule Published

Commerce Adds Kaspersky to Blacklist