Wyden reserving judgment on TPP Presented by Semiconductor Industry Association

With help from Megan Cassella, Catherine Boudreau and Jason Huffman

WYDEN RESERVING JUDGMENT ON TPP: The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee is waiting for additional developments before taking a position on the TPP, a spokesman for Sen. Ron Wyden told Morning Trade.


“When [Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell] signals that he intends for it to be considered in the Senate, and after there is agreement on the final text of the legislation that would approve and implement the TPP, Sen. Wyden will take a position on the agreement,” his spokesman, Keith Chu, said in an email.

Wyden played a key role last year in passage of trade promotion authority, which allowed the Obama administration to complete negotiations on the TPP by guaranteeing Congress would consider the pact on a straight up-or-down vote without any amendments, thus assuring other nations it would survive the approval process in one piece.

But only a few of the 13 Senate Democrats and 28 House Democrats who voted last year for trade promotion authority have publicly embraced the TPP agreement in the face of fierce criticism from the progressive wing of their party. “Key to Sen. Wyden's ultimate position is whether the current provisions in the agreement that protect public health, promote labor rights and preserve the environment remain fully intact, and he has confidence that those provisions will be vigorously enforced,” Chu said.

For his part, McConnell said in July that chances were “pretty slim” that Congress would vote on the deal this year because of the opposition of the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees. However, the White House continues to act as though it will submit the implementing legislation for a vote under fast-track procedures.

IT’S TUESDAY, AUG. 23! Welcome to Morning Trade, where I have to admit I never knew that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was Super Mario until the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympics. It makes me wonder if Vladimir Putin has a secret video game alter ego. If you know, fill me in at [email protected] or @tradereporter. Trade news welcome as well.

POSTAL WORKERS PROTEST TPP: More than 2,000 postal workers are expected to protest the TPP today in Orlando, where the American Postal Workers Union is holding its biennial convention. Members of the union, which says it represents 200,000 workers, have come out against the TPP for its investor-state dispute settlement clause and for the way it would “lower worker protections to the lowest common denominator,” according to a press release announcing the event.

“The TPP is an attack on working people — including U.S. postal workers,” APWU President Mark Dimondstein said in a statement. “We’re rallying in Orlando to make sure politicians from both parties hear us loud and clear and we’re going to head back to every ZIP code from Orlando with a message that the TPP needs to be blocked.”

The union is also worried the trade deal could lead to the privatization of USPS as well as to a ban on postal banking, a practice employed until 1967 that allowed the agency to offer financial services. In a speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, Katherine Isaac, a coordinator for the Grand Alliance to Save the Post Office, said corporate banks could force participating nations to ban financial services under TPP, including postal banking — “before they even get started.”

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the critics had their facts wrong on that point. “No provision in TPP prevents postal entities from selling insurance or offering banking services,” USTR spokesman Matt McAlvanah said.

PORTMAN: CBP NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET: Lawmakers have long complained that Customs and Border Protection has not been serious enough in investigating charges of anti-dumping and countervailing duty evasion. But the jury’s still out on whether an interim rule that CBP published on Monday to implement the “Enforce and Protect Act of 2015” marks the start of a new, more aggressive era, Sen. Rob Portman said.

“While I am pleased that CBP met its legal deadline for issuing this interim regulation, I am concerned that it does not go far enough to ensure transparency and to promote cooperation with stakeholders,” Portman said in a statement. “I will continue to closely follow the administration and CBP’s implementation of ENFORCE to ensure that it follows our intent to create a new, transparent enforcement mechanism that quickly and effectively promotes enforcement of our trade remedy laws.”

Steel companies that have pressed CBP to step up its enforcement game, as well as other interested parties, have 60 days to comment on the interim rule. In the meantime, CBP said any duty evasion allegations can be sent to the following email address: [email protected]. The agency is also developing a web-based portal for submissions, which it hopes to have ready by the end of the year.

The new rules should lead to “an uptick” of duty evasion cases because of requirements that give industry and unions more opportunity to provide evidence on the record and congressionally mandated deadlines for CBP to conclude its investigations, said Lars-Erik Hjelm, a partner at Akin Gump.

CFIUS OKS CHEMCHINA’S TAKEOVER OF SYNGENTA: China National Chemical Corp. has received the go-ahead from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to move forward with its proposed takeover of Swiss pesticide and seed company Syngenta, the two companies announced Monday.

Clearance from the committee, which examines foreign transactions for any national security concerns, removes a significant hurdle in ChemChina's quest to complete the largest-ever acquisition by a Chinese company. The $43 billion acquisition now faces antitrust review from regulators around the world, but the transaction is still expected to close by the end of the year, the two companies said in a joint press release.

The acquisition, if ultimately approved, could help open China's highly regulated market for biotech crops. It also would deal a blow to Monsanto Co., the U.S. chemical and biotech giant, which made a $46.6 billion bid for Syngenta last year that ultimately failed.

CFIUS’s decision prompted Sen. Chuck Grassley to repeat his call for permanently including the Department of Agriculture on the interagency panel led by the Treasury Department. "It's clear that China is looking at purchasing companies with food production expertise as part of a long-term strategic plan and a component of their national security. We need to be looking at these mergers in the same way,” the Iowa senator said in a statement.

The Agriculture Department was brought into the CFIUS process for the ChemChina-Syngenta deal after Grassley and other lawmakers wrote to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew requesting it be involved, Reuters reported in May. The USDA is not normally one of the 16 federal agencies on the panel, but Grassley has introduced legislation that would change that.

TOOMEY MAKES A ‘FULL FLOP’ ON TPP STANCE: After supporting trade promotion authority last summer and being strongly pro-trade while in Congress, Sen. Pat Toomey formally stated his opposition to TPP in an op-ed last week — a move that the fact-checking website PolitiFact is now rating a “full flop.”

A Toomey spokeswoman told PolitiFact that the Pennsylvania Republican had never made a decision before now on whether to support TPP. But the rating, the same one Hillary Clinton received last year after she came out against the deal, was based on Toomey’s new stance against the deal after last year praising not just TPA but also a new trade deal.

“Asked multiple times during [an MSNBC interview], Toomey touted the benefits of a trade deal and didn’t temper his feelings by saying he’d reserve judgment on the TPP until negotiations wrapped up,” PolitiFact said in its rating. “He only says now, while he’s up for reelection, that he wanted to wait to decide on whether or not he supported TPP.” You can read the full report here.

USDA HIGHLIGHTS TURKEY AS AN AG EXPORT OPPORTUNITY: Despite its deep political problems, Turkey represents a major export opportunity for the American food and agriculture sectors, according to a recent report by the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.

“Lifestyle changes due to high levels of urbanization and the increase in income levels have been affecting the consumption patterns of Turkish consumers toward processed and ready-to-eat products,” the report says. “The shift toward organized retailing has also paved the way for imported brands. There is a growing demand for specialized products such as diabetic and diet products, as well as functional and frozen foods.”

Still, Turkey’s imports of U.S. food and agricultural products fell to $1.5 billion in 2015, from $2.6 billion in 2014. The country’s exports to the United States also dropped slightly to $798 million in 2015, from $808 million in 2014. The full report can be found here.

ONE LAST BIG U.S.-INDIA MEETING: Secretary of State John Kerry and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker will to travel to New Delhi next week for what could be the last big U.S.-India meeting of the Obama administration, according to Indian press reports. The United States hosted the inaugural U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue in September 2015.

ARGENTINA TO HOST BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT FORUM: A little further out on the horizon, BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley, Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent and Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris are all scheduled to speak at the first annual Argentina Business and Investment Forum on Sept. 12-15 in Buenos Aires. Click here to read more and listen to a video of Argentine President Mauricio Macri describing his hopes for the event. “We will give priority to those investments that promote inclusive growth in Argentina,” the reform-minded leader said.

BUSINESS GROUP HEADS TO VIETNAM, LAOS: A big delegation from the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council will be in Vietnam from Wednesday to Friday to talk with government officials and explore business opportunities. Council members will also travel to Laos in September for a business and investment conference on the margins of the East Asian Summit, which President Barack Obama and other regional leaders are attending.

INTERNATIONAL OVERNIGHT

— EU requests WTO panel over spirits dispute with Colombia, Reuters reports.

— China removes duties on Japanese steel after WTO ruling, Nikkei Asian Review reports.

— Pfizer boosts cancer drug roster with $14 billion Medivation deal, Reuters reports.

— Global travel spending still growing but at a slower pace, U.S. News reports.

— Canada feels anti-trade winds blowing from the south, Australian Financial Review reports.

THAT'S ALL FOR MORNING TRADE! See you again soon! In the meantime, drop the team a line: [email protected] and @ABehsudi; [email protected] and @mmcassella; [email protected] and @tradereporter; [email protected] and @mjkorade; and [email protected] and @JsonHuffman. You can also follow @POLITICOPro and @Morning_Trade.

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