The Chinese government has “increasingly pursued policies” to obstruct U.S. industry access to the Chinese information and communications technology (ICT) sector over the past nine months, said 19 associations in a recent letter to President Barack Obama. BSA | The Software Alliance, CEA, Computer & Communications Industry Association, Information Technology Industry Council, Semiconductor Industry Association, Telecommunications Industry Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others urged Obama to pressure Chinese President Xi Jinping to ease those barriers during a bilateral September summit in Washington. Chinese national security policy, as well as other motivations, have led to “a new program to acquire or indigenize U.S. semiconductor technology,” “new restrictions on cross-border data flows” and several other restrictive measures, said the Aug. 11 letter. “The United States and China should reaffirm their commitment to open markets, particularly in the ICT sector, recognizing the significant benefits that both countries enjoy from integration into global ICT industry value chains.” The groups want other ways to strengthen cooperation among the two countries. The letter said China adopted the restrictive measures since Jinping's last visit to Washington in November 2014.

House lawmakers delivered President Barack Obama a trade adjustment assistance (TAA) bill as part of a larger trade package Thursday, a day after the Senate passed trade promotion authority (TPA) (see 1506240045). Obama and White House officials have repeatedly urged lawmakers to pass trade adjustment assistance alongside TPA. “This week's votes represent a much-needed win for hardworking American families,” said Obama. “I look forward to signing these bipartisan bills.” The Senate merged the two bills together when they hit the Senate floor in May, but the House maneuvered to divide the them for separate votes. The June 25 House vote capped months of intense Capitol Hill wrangling on trade. Many trade supporters expect the U.S. to now step up focus on closing Trans-Pacific Partnership talks. Obama didn’t mention the 12-nation pact directly, but said TPA will help the U.S. “write the rules of our global economy.” TAA passed as part of a package that included renewals for the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Generalized System of Preferences. Lawmakers now are likely to head to conference over Customs Reauthorization, but that bill is now legislatively disconnected from TPA and the trade package.

The Senate 60-38 Wednesday cleared trade promotion authority legislation, sending it on to President Barack Obama for his signature. CEA President Gary Shapiro in a statement said the action is "essential" to innovation and the U.S. economy: "It is a common sense bill, which simply guarantees a vote on trade agreements and directs our trade negotiators to balance intellectual property rights with an open-and-fair flow of commerce." Other tech groups also praised the Senate. “The Senate did its part to help grow the economy by passing TPA," said Vince Jesaitis, IT Industry Council vice president-government affairs, in a statement. "TPA can help future trade agreements reflect the important role that digital trade plays in our economy to help our tech goods and services compete more fairly overseas." TPA's passage "shows that bipartisan achievements aren't dead in Washington," said Victoria Espinel, president of BSA | The Software Alliance, in a statement. TPA is "historic legislation" that makes clear "that any 21st-century agreement must include strong, clear, and enforceable rules to ensure the free global flow of data," she said. The Senate, which was poised for most of the day Wednesday to clear TPA as a stand-alone bill, will continue to push forward on the trade preferences package to send that legislation over to the House by Thursday, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on the floor Wednesday. Tuesday, high-tech interests cheered Senate passage of a procedural motion allowing the TPA vote (see 1506230043). Trade lobbyists said TPA and the preference bill are likely to sail through the chamber by the end of the day Thursday. “What we know now is TPA is going to the president’s desk and he’ll sign it,” said Simon Rosenberg, president of the pro-free trade New Democrat Network, even before the 60-38 vote took place. Rosenberg is "optimistic" that trade adjustment assistance "is going to pass also,” he said. CEA and hundreds of U.S. companies and associations pushed lawmakers to support the preference bill, in a Wednesday letter.

The Senate by a 60-37 vote OK'd a procedural motion on stand-alone trade promotion authority Tuesday, paving the way for final passage of TPA Wednesday, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Passage of the underlying TPA bill that the House has passed will let Senate leadership deliver that legislation to President Barack Obama for his signature after weeks of political wrangling (see 1506180059). Industry representatives immediately praised the procedural approval. The Senate is preparing to vote on the same cloture motion Thursday for an expanded preference package, and lawmakers could rally to pass that bill and send it back to the House Thursday, McConnell said. The House is ready to pass that legislation this week to send it to Obama, said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. CEA President Gary Shapiro hailed the Senate’s procedural TPA vote and looks forward “to the bill’s successful passage” possibly as soon as Wednesday, he said in a Tuesday statement: CEA now calls on the Senate to pass TPA and give Obama and future presidents "the ability to negotiate critical trade agreements that drive sustained economic growth and strengthen our position in the global marketplace,” Shapiro said. With 75 percent, or $4 trillion, of the global telecom equipment and related services marketplace outside the U.S., TPA "is critical for advancing trade agreements that allow American businesses to take full advantage of these opportunities" and that ensure continued U.S. high-tech job growth, said Telecommunications Industry Association CEO Scott Belcher. The vote "brought us one step closer to realizing these goals, and we stand with other tech and communications industry leaders in urging the Senate to send TPA to the President's desk," he said in a written statement. The Trade Benefits America Coalition backs TPA, it wrote senators Monday. Coalition members include Apple, AT&T, BSA | The Software Alliance, Cisco, CEA, Intel, the Interactive Advertising Bureau and TIA, according to its letter and website.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership and other trade agreements “are essential for establishing modern rules for digital trade -- trade that will be an increasingly important driver of high wage American jobs and economic growth, and they cannot proceed" without trade promotion authority. So said the Software & Information Industry Association in letters Monday to the 14 Democratic senators who voted for TPA in May, urging them to do so again. TPA “formalizes the U.S. negotiating position that our trading partners must not impede digital trade in goods and services,” SIIA said. The software industry, which SIIA said contributes $425 billion to the U.S. economy and directly employs 2.5 million workers, “relies heavily on the free flow of data across international borders,” it said. “We urge you to maintain your support for the President’s ability to finalize negotiations and buttress American leadership in trade.” The House passed a stand-alone trade TPA bill Thursday, sending it back to the Senate, where final approval would deliver TPA to President Barack Obama for his signature (see 1506180059).

A vote to support trade promotion authority legislation in the House “is a vote to support the 12 million men and women working in manufacturing" in the U.S., said the National Association of Manufacturers in a statement Thursday. The House “faces a simple decision,” said NAM: “Vote in support of TPA and expand opportunities for manufacturers to sell our products overseas, increase global competitiveness and fuel our ability to grow and create jobs, or vote to keep manufacturers on the sidelines and at a global disadvantage.” The statement was signed by NAM President Jay Timmons and David Farr, NAM vice chairman-international economic affairs policy and Emerson Electric's CEO.