U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-PA) praised the recent approval of bipartisan House-Senate compromise legislation meant to strengthen the enforcement of U.S. customs and trade laws.
“The compromise legislation passed today gives us new tools to facilitate trade, improve enforcement and create and support good-paying U.S. jobs,” Meehan said. “It brings our customs and trade enforcement policies into the 21st century and helps workers harmed by the unfair trading practices of other nations access aid and relief. It gives the administration robust tools to take on currency manipulation by other nations and enables us to take action against countries that refuse to address currency distortions.”
The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, which passed the House on Friday in a 256-158 vote, includes provisions from Meehan’s Preclearance Authorization Act of 2015 that addresses the shortfalls in the process of establishing preclearance facilities overseas to enable the completion of U.S. customs inspections prior to arriving in the U.S.
“I’m pleased the bill includes an important measure that will ensure our overseas customs preclearance facilities are established with American jobs in mind,” Meehan said. “This provision will prevent Washington from giving an unfair advantage to foreign airlines over our own domestic carriers and the tens of thousands of jobs they support.
“America has the world’s finest workforce, and our middle class workers can compete and win in any global market. But we need to be able to enforce our trade laws on the books to give them a fair shot. This bill will modernize our customs policies and make enforcement more effective. It’s an important step in helping our middle-class compete on a level global playing field.”