Lawmakers Hope to Finish Customs Bill This Week
House and Senate lawmakers aim to send a long-awaited customs reauthorization bill to President Barack Obama by the end of this week, said members of Congressional Conference Committee during a Dec. 7 public meeting. While congressional officials said language from the Senate-introduced ENFORCE Act is likely to make it in the bill’s final conference report, an industry lobbyist remains skeptical. Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., joined fellow Democratic conferee Sen. Ron Wyden, Ore. in lauding ENFORCE provisions, which both said will make duty evasion much tougher for importers who might seek to undercut U.S. industry.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
“Only when countries live up to their obligations and agreed-upon laws can we have truly robust trade, and truly robust trade needs enforcement, and strong enforcement at that,” Sanchez said. “In particular, I’m very pleased that the strong ENFORCE Act in the Senate version of the bill will be included in the conference package.” A congressional staffer backed up Sanchez’s remarks about the inclusion of ENFORCE. “I think that it would be fairly likely that something very close to the Senate language is ultimately included,” the staffer said. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, told reporters after the meeting that lawmakers are shooting to finish the bill this week.
Lawmakers have debated the merits of the ENFORCE and its companion House-sponsored PROTECT Act, which would both require CBP to submit annual reports to Congress on the status of AD/CVD evasion efforts. Divisions over the bill have been largely centered in the House, with most Democrats supporting ENFORCE, and the majority of the GOP backing PROTECT (see 13040911). The difference between the two bills lies in the procedures they direct to combat evasion. Both ENFORCE and PROTECT aim to improve efforts to combat duty evasion by setting timelines for administrative and judicial review, but the ENFORCE Act gives review responsibility to CBP, among other differences.
Jon Kent, a lobbyist for the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA), questioned whether ENFORCE is really likely to make it to a final bill. Sanchez, and other House Democrats, may not be as up to date as the GOP members of the committee, he said. Also, House Democrats actually appear to be easing up on their focus on ENFORCE and Kent predicted that the ultimate result of the legislation would largely depend on negotiations between Wyden and Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., who originally introduced PROTECT three years ago. The NCBFAA opposes the ENFORCE Act provisions (see 1512070018).
Also potentially hinting at ENFORCE’s inclusion in the final customs bill, Wyden said in a statement (here) ENFORCE language “will” give CBP more tools to stop “cheaters.” Wyden fought to get ENFORCE "into law for years," he said. "Foreign companies too frequently try to cheat and evade duties by concealing their identities and shipping their products on untraceable routes. The ENFORCE Act will help stop them.” Among the opponents of PROTECT is House Ways and Means Ranking Member Sandy Levin, who knocked the legislation for lacking strong enforcement provisions akin to the Senate bill. “I strongly support the Senate bill, and I strongly oppose the House bill," he said.
As expected (see 1510260021), a miscellaneous tariff reform measure is unlikely to be included in the bill, said Conference chair and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah and Brady. But both agreed that the bill should at least chart a path to move the bill forward, they said in statements (here) and (here). Brady told reporters: “I’m absolutely committed to trying to bring some solutions that fits in the House rules that are bipartisan and continue to protect our constitutional authority.”