Jobs & Trade Competitiveness Act introduced in House

Representatives in the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee have introduced a bill aimed at improving U.S. competitiveness by reforming trade enforcement, encouraging domestic job growth and discouraging outsourcing.    U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr., D-N.J., last week introduced new legislation in the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee designed to help domestic businesses by increasing trade policy enforcement, encourage U.S. job growth and discourage outsourcing.
   The Jobs & Trade Competitiveness Act aims to ensure “that U.S. workers, farmers, and businesses are getting a fair shake in the global marketplace,” according to a summary of the bill.
   The bill would increase U.S. trade enforcement via twelve policy proposals that, according to Pascrell, would ensure fair trade at home and abroad. Tools for businesses and workers are provided for in the proposals, as well as provisions that would encourage domestic insourcing and discourage foreign outsourcing.
   The legislation also proposes more funding for trade enforcement and the creation of enforcement jobs to investigate barriers to U.S. exports and enforcement strategies.
   “Our nation’s trade policy needs fundamental reform to create jobs in the United States and level the playing field for American workers and consumers,” said Pascrell. “This legislation would encourage job creation in American manufacturing, crack down on cheating by our trading partners, and give workers and small businesses a seat at the table.
   “The Jobs & Trade Competitiveness Act of 2017 would take a number of steps to toughen U.S. trade laws and require the Administration to significantly enhance its enforcement efforts to address cheating abroad,” he added. “Too often in the past, U.S. trade officials have been primarily focused on negotiating new trade agreements while existing agreements were neglected or abused. In addition to cracking down on cheating in trade, this bill would further increase U.S. competitiveness by amending our tax code to reward insourcing to the United States.”
   Currently, the bill is supported by manufacturing unions including national trade union center AFL-CIO, United Steelworkers (USW), Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), according to Pascrell.
   Proponents believe that recent rhetoric from the Trump administration and congressional Republicans indicates they will also support the reforms outlined in the bill.
   Cosponsors for the bill include Reps. Sander Levin, D-Mich.; Linda Sanchez, D-Calif.; Brian Higgins, D-N.Y.; Terri Sewell, D-Ala.; Suzan DelBene, D-Wash.; and Judy Chu, D-Calif., all of whom are members of the Ways and Means Committee.