October/November 2007

Inside Washington by Janet Kopenhaver, AWPA Director of Government Affairs

Trade Remedy Bill Introduced

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced legislation (S 1919) that targets trade violations abroad, on the same day the Senate Banking Committee approved a bill to crack down on currency manipulation.

The Baucus-Hatch bill would reduce the leeway the administration has to reject industry petitions for safeguards against China, and gives Congress a larger role in determining how to address foreign trade abuses, including launching WTO disputes.

A committee aide said a markup is possible this fall. But the aide said the committee is likely to tackle in September a bill that renews and expands trade adjustment assistance for laid-off workers.

Under the Baucus-Hatch bill, US trade officials would report to Congress annually on “priority foreign country trade practices” and the Senate Finance and Ways and Means Committees could vote to add to that list.

The senators also strengthened the bill’s trade remedy section, stipulating that the president may waive import restraints in Section 421 safeguard cases against China only in extraordinary cases. In addition, both chambers of Congress would be able, through a joint resolution, to overturn such a waiver.

In addition, the bill would reverse a federal appeals court decision that limited the International Trade Commission’s (ITC) ability to make a finding of material injury, in cases where imposing duties against one country would result in more imports coming in from other countries.

Baucus stated that he expected the Senate to act before the end of the year on the three trade bills he has introduced: this Trade Remedy bill, expanding trade adjustment assistance (see related story in next column), and addressing currency abuses by China (see related story on page 7). As to trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea, Baucus said Congress “needs to review” them but did not offer a timeline.

Trade Adjustment Assistance Legislation Unveiled

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Baucus joined Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) in introducing legislation (S 1848) that would renew trade adjustment assistance (TAA) benefits for five years, boost funding for training and health care under the program, and fold in workers currently ineligible for TAA. The bill would expand TAA benefits to cover services workers who are excluded under current law.

Current TAA covers only workers who lose their jobs as a result of increased imports from US free-trade agreements. The Baucus-Snowe bill provides coverage for workers affected by import competition from China and India, which do not have separate deals with the United States. Without congressional action, the TAA program will expire September 30. This bill would extend benefits through 2012. The legislation also authorizes $300 million for a program to benefit communities that have been hit hard by imports.

Meanwhile Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA) called for a several months-long extension of TAA so that lawmakers can craft an update of the program and pass it in this Congress.

Free Trade Agreement Votes Coming

Now that Congress is back from its summer recess, it is likely legislators will vote on free-trade agreements with both Panama and Peru. Odds on both will be improved if certain labor rights are first written into each country’s domestic law. A similar deal with Colombia will not come to a vote until next year, if then.

Congressional approval of these three free-trade accords will bring to a close nearly two decades of deepening American economic integration with the rest of the Western Hemisphere that began with the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, progressed to the North American Free Agreement and the Caribbean Basin Initiative, continued with the Chilean Free Trade Agreement, and most recently, resulted in the Central America Free Trade Agreement.

But what’s next? The dream of a hemisphere-wide free trade accord – the Free Trade of the Americas (FTAA) – is now dead. There is no chance that Brazil, with the richest economy in Latin America, will do a free-trade deal with the United States anytime soon. So US economic policy toward Latin America in the years ahead lacks direction.

The failure of the FTAA forced the Bush Administration to pursue economic integration piecemeal. But this strategy has about run its course. Brazil and Venezuela show no interest in a free-trade agreement with the United States. Argentina and Uruguay have not yet been willing to defy their neighbor Brazil. And the other, smaller economies of Latin America hardly merit the effort.

The next administration, mired in Iraq and the war on terrorism, is likely to give low priority to the hemisphere. If Congress doesn’t begin to ask what to do next with Latin America, no one will.

Peru, Panama and Colombia are experiencing dramatic economic expansion: 8% in 2006 in Peru; 8.1% in Panama; and 6.8% in Colombia.

OSHA Bills to be Introduced

Senate Health Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and House Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) will introduce OSHA reform bills. Kennedy’s bill, which is also sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), will extend OSHA protections to federal workers and others not currently covered, increase penalties, provide whistleblower protections, increase the public’s right to know about safety violations, and clarify that employers are required to provide safety equipment to their workers.

This legislation would apply to more than 8.5 million workers currently not covered by OSHA’s protections, who include federal, state and local public employees, as well as flight attendants and state correctional officers.

The bill would increase penalties for employers who commit willful OSHA violations that result in a worker’s death or serious injury, making felony charges available for such employers. Current law only allows employers to be charged with a misdemeanor when a willful OSHA violation leads to a worker’s death. The bill also updates OSHA civil penalties with a minimum penalty of $50,000 if a willful OSHA violation leads to a worker’s death. OSHA’s civil penalties have remained unchanged since 1990.

Kennedy’s bill would also require the Department of Labor to investigate all deaths or serious injuries, give the right to workers and their families to meet with investigator, and require employers to inform employees about their rights under the OSHA Act. Finally, the bill would clarify that employers must provide workers with safety equipment, including personal protective equipment.

Senate Committee Stops TRI Changes

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved legislation that would reverse the EPA’s decision last year to reduce disclosure requirements for industries that release toxic chemicals. The Toxic Right to Know Protection Act, sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), cleared the panel on a party line 10-9 vote.

The legislation would bar EPA from attempting to make future changes in the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) program, under which the owners of more than 24,000 industrial facilities are required to report annually on their air, land and water emissions of some 650 kinds of toxic chemicals.

In a February 2006 rule-making initiative, the EPA proposed to cut the frequency of the report to once every two years and top raise the threshold for disclosing releases from 500 pounds annually to 2,000 pounds. The agency agreed to restore the annual reporting requirement but kept the higher threshold for reporting.

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