With MSCI’s Help, U.S. Senate Sends Historic Customs Reform Bill To President’s Desk

On a 75-20 vote last Thursday, the U.S. Senate approved the conference report for H.R. 644, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, which MSCI strongly supported. The bill now heads to President Barack Obama’s desk for his approval. (The president is expected to sign it soon.) 

MSCI joined with the National Association of Manufacturers and other industry allies to support the bill in the days before the vote. One MSCI member held a conference call last Monday with a top U.S. senator to discuss the bill. (The member also discussed the legislation with staff members for another senator.) The senator pledged to support H.R. 644 and to consider further legislative efforts to address currency manipulation. 

As a reminder, H.R. 644 includes several measures to address currency manipulation and also includes the Enforcing Orders and Reducing Customs Evasion Act (ENFORCE), which provides basic due process and time-limited procedures subject to judicial review for Customs and Border Protection to investigate allegations of the evasion of trade remedy rules. 

Members can read a more comprehensive explanation of the bill in last week’s Connecting the Dots.