[CTC] W&M GOP Members Say USTR Engagement Has Not Provided Biologics Solutions

[Arthur Stamoulis]

W&M GOP Members Say USTR Engagement Has Not Provided Biologics Solutions

Inside US Trade, March 22, 2016 
Two Republican members of the House Ways & Means Committee said Monday (March 21) that although U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman is engaging with House GOP lawmakers about their objections to the biologics provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), he has not yet provided any specific solutions to address them.

Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-MN) and George Holding (R-NC) said Froman met with a group of House Republicans last week to discuss the biologics issue, but made clear that they are still waiting for USTR to come forward with solutions. They spoke to reporters separately on the margins of a reception sponsored by the British-American Business Association and the British Embassy.

“Our message was … we need the administration to produce some solutions on the biologics issue, and so [he] essentially indicated ... they'll come back and [throw out] some ideas on moving forward,” Paulsen told Inside U.S. Trade. “That was really the entire nature of the conversation."

Froman mentioned that side letters and enforcement plans are tools available to address lawmakers' objections on biologics, but did not say what solutions could be achieved using those tools, according to Paulsen.

Paulsen said the administration still needed to provide the specific solutions. “We want to get members of Congress to be on board, to be fully supportive [of TPP], so that's what we're waiting to find out."

Similarly, Holding told reporters that “USTR hasn't offered any particular solutions so we're waiting for them to present something.”

Holding also said USTR had not offered “anything to break the impasse” on the carveout of tobacco control measures from investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). Holding has been a leading opponent of the tobacco carveout and he said that the administration will either have to “fix the problem” or find the votes to offset those that will be lost due to it.

Ways & Means trade subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert (R-WA) said late last year <http://insidetrade.com/node/151577> that between eight to 15 congressional Republicans who voted for the 2015 fast-track law would oppose TPP due to the tobacco carveout.

When asked whether he was a “no” on TPP at this point, Holding would only say that he has a “lot of concerns about it” right now.

Paulsen said the meeting with Froman was similar to the engagement going on between the Obama administration and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) on the biologics issue that has involved high-level White House officials.

Last week's meeting with Froman included Ways & Means Republicans as well as other House GOP members who are interested in the issue, according to Paulsen. He said White House National Economic Council Director Jeffrey Zients was supposed the attend the meeting but was unable to because of a scheduling conflict.

Paulsen and Holding signaled that Froman did not discuss the potential timing of a TPP vote during that meeting. But Paulsen said his view is that a TPP vote is “absolutely” doable during the lame-duck session of Congress after the election, as long as congressional objections to the TPP are addressed prior to that time.

He reiterated that the substance of resolving members' objections will determine the timeline for consideration, which is the position taken by Ways & Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX).

Holding said he did not know if TPP could be passed during the lame duck, saying the agreement has some “serious problems” that need to be addressed first.

Also last week, Hatch discussed TPP at a March 14 meeting on Capitol Hill with Froman, Zients and White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, according to a White House spokeswoman. Froman told the U.S. Coalition for TPP on March 14 that he has had "constructive" discussions with Hatch and House Republicans, sources said.

Sources have described this outreach as the beginning of the administration's efforts to seriously address lawmakers' objections to the TPP in an effort to pave the way for a congressional vote during the lame duck.

Paulsen said he believed the talks with the administration on the biologics issue were going well, and that the administration was willing to engage in the conversation about how to address congressional objections. “They're doing outreach, we're having communication, it's all in a good place,” he said.

But Holding characterized the meeting last week as continuing the ongoing dialogue between the administration and Ways & Means Republicans on TPP.

As far back as December of last year, Froman committed to Ways & Means Republicans <http://insidetrade.com/node/151577> that he would try to address their objections to certain aspects of the TPP deal, including the monopoly period for biologic drugs. At that time, Froman also identified the negotiation of additional side letters as one way in which these objections could be addressed.


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