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Richard McCormack Domestic Manufacturers And Workers Have No Voice In Crafting U.S. Trade Rules
The federal agency that is in charge of applying trade rules continues to operate without any input from those most impacted by imports: small- and medium-sized American manufacturers and farmers and American workers. In a Senate bill that will reauthorize the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency, retailers, importers, shipping companies, ports, large multinational corporations, import brokers and freight forwarders, and their law firms and lobbyists will gain even greater influence over setting the rules of U.S. trade and the internal operations of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agency.
Senate Bill S-1631 creates a new Office of Trade within the agency. Within that office, a new "Trade Advocate" will also be created to "report directly to the Assistant Commissioner of Customs." This new position will be required to consult regularly with the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) and the Trade Support Network, both comprised of members of the private sector. The CBP's Trade Office is responsible for regulations and rules regarding preferential tariff treatment under free trade agreements, "Buy American," and country-of-origin marking laws.
COAC is mentioned repeatedly and prominently in the reauthorization bill. The committee does not have any representation from domestic manufacturers, farmers or workers, groups that have been impacted by the free flow of imports.
In the bill sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the CBP Commissioner is told that he or she must "solicit and consider on a regular basis input from the private sector including the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee." COAC is directed to provide managers of CBP with "input with respect to the agency's development and implementation of rules, regulations, decisions, notices and abstracts related to the customs and trade laws of the United States." It will assess "the effectiveness of customs facilitation and trade enforcement efforts" and support the creation of an "International Trade Data System," according to the bill.
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http://www.manufacturingnews.com/news/09/1019/coac.html
Once again Max Baucus sells out the American workerWhat is this guy - A RATpubliCON in Dem's clothing