Omnibus Bill Includes New Trade Enforcement Funding

Funding for a trade enforcement trust fund established by a wide-ranging 2015 customs bill – the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA) – would be provided by the pending omnibus spending bill, according to a Senate Appropriations Committee summary.The funds for the Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)would be set at $62 million, an increase of $7.5 million over Fiscal 2016 enacted levels. Under the measure, USTR could draw $15 million for the trade enforcement trust fund.However, most of the additional money slotted for USTR is needed to fund the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center (ITEC), leaving relatively little “extra” for the trust fund a Senate aide told Bloomberg BNA. Former President Barack Obama established the ITEC in 2012 by executive order to take a “whole-of-government” approach to monitoring and enforcing U.S. trade rights.TFTEA established the Trade Enforcement Trust Fund (TETF), but Congress has yet to appropriate resources for it. The fund would allow USTR to support trade capacity-building assistance to help partner countries meet their free trade obligations and commitments.Besides USTR funding, the bill would provide $91.5 million for the International Trade Commission (ITC). That would be $3 million above the Fiscal 2016 enacted level. The funding boost would support trade enforcement activities and ITC's responsibilities in the miscellaneous tariff bill process, according to the summary.