Stephanie Salmon, Artemis Strategies; Jeff Hannapel & Christian Richter, The Policy Group, Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON ALERT
Obama Announces Export Initiatives P
MANUFACTURING ASSISTANCE MEASURES WILL AID LARGE AND SMALL COMPANIES.
resident Obama an- nounced on Feb. 17 seven programs to pro-
mote American manufactur- ing and increase U.S. exports. Many of these new initiatives do not require congressional approval, unlike the manufac- turing initiatives proposed in the president’s budget. 1. Financing: Te administra- tion will utilize existing authority in order for the Export-Import Bank to provide U.S. firms with matching financing support to counter foreign financing that fails to observe international disciplines.
2. New Credit for Small Business Exporters: Te Export-Import Bank will launch a program, Global Credit Express, to help small business export- ers access hard-to-find, short-term working capital lines of credit. Small businesses will be able to apply for 6-12-month loans of up to $500,000.
3. Reauthorize the Export-Import Bank: Due to demands for export financing, the Export-Import Bank estimates it will hit its lending ceiling of $100 billion by the end of March. Unless the bank’s authorization is renewed and its lending cap raised, it will be
ON THE HILL
Senator Aims to Repeal Utility MACT On Feb. 16, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Ok- la.) introduced his Utility MACT Congres- sional Review Act (CRA) resolution as a legislative stop to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) finalized mer- cury standards for power plants issued in December 2011, which could lead to increased costs for industries. The Utility MACT passing would require power plants to upgrade pollution control technologies, which opponents fear will be too costly. CRA will allow lawmakers the opportunity to disapprove EPA’s air emissions regulation on utilities through an up-or-down vote, requiring
51 votes to pass. Floor action is expected some time in late spring.
A variety of companies, states and organizations are expected to file lawsuits challenging various parts of the Utility MACT rule in the weeks ahead.
New House Bill Requires Companies to Report Abroad Employees Legislation recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would require most publicly traded companies to report employees working both domestically and abroad, which could have a positive impact on reshoring. The Outsourcing Accountability Act
of 2012 (H.R. 3875), call for a company to report: • The total number of their employees and those of their subsidiaries who live and work in the U.S. by state.
• The total number of their employ- ees who physically live and work abroad, broken down by country.
• The percentage increase or decrease in the number of employees reported in the above categories from the previous year. Under current law, publicly traded companies are required to report the num- ber of employees they have, but not where these individuals work.
March 2012 MODERN CASTING | 29 Many of the programs to promote exporting do not require congressional approval. forced to halt all new transactions.
4. Simplified Process for Foreign Trade Zones: Te U.S Department of Com- merce announced it will simplify the processes and paperwork for Foreign Trade Zones, which are designated locations where companies can use spe- cial procedures to delay or reduce duty payments on foreign merchandise.
5. Legislation to Reorganize Federal Agencies Involved in Exporting: Te Obama Administration sent Congress legislation, the Consolidating and Reforming Government Act of 2012, to reorganize and consolidate the federal government. Earlier this year, Obama laid out a plan to bring six agencies and a handful of other related programs into
a single department with a focus on promoting Amer- ican business. Some in the manufacturing community have concerns about the Small Business Adminis- tration being absorbed into a large agency. 6. Memo to Strengthen the Export Promotion Cabinet: Obama issued a memorandum directing the Export Promotion Cabinet to work across agencies to maximize the
effectiveness of their programs and initiatives in support of the adminis- tration’s trade and investment goals. Te memorandum gives the Export Promotion Cabinet stronger authority to align interagency efforts and directs the cabinet to work with the National Economic Council to coordinate ini- tiatives to enhance programs that sup- port American businesses. Te Export Promotion Cabinet was established by an executive order on March 11, 2010.
7. Launch of BusinessUSA: Te administration officially launched this virtual one-stop shop to make it easier for American businesses to access the services and information they need to help them export their products.
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