Latest Chuck Grassley Stories
By Chris Baltimore WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress should drop a tariff on fuel ethanol imports from countries like Brazil if it wants to alleviate gasoline shortages, President George W. Bush said on Friday. "Dropping a tariff will enable the foreign export of ethanol into our markets which would particularly help on our coasts," Bush told CNBC television in an interview. "I've talked to Congress about that." Doing away with a 54 cent-per-gallon tariff on ethanol imports...
By Susan HeaveyWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Republican senator on Monday called for Congress to give the Food and Drug Administration more power to review drugs after they are approved for the public, citing a government report that found lingering safety concerns at the agency.The report, conducted by the Government Accountability Office, said there is no clear process for the FDA to monitor products once they are sold and that the agency should have the authority to require additional,...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top United States legislator said on Monday he supported ideas circulating in Congress to extend for one more year current U.S. farm program payments and trade promotion authority, which lets the White House put trade agreements to a straight yes or no vote. Congress reworks U.S. farm legislation roughly every five years. The 2002 bill is now up for debate, but world trade talks on reforming agricultural subsidies -- which could shape the new U.S. law -- have...
By Doug Palmer and Sophie Walker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush abruptly changed his chief trade negotiator on Tuesday, casting more doubt on troubled world trade talks just weeks before a major deadline that is already in danger of slipping. With his domestic economic agenda facing stiff resistance in Congress, Bush tapped U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, a well-liked former congressman and longtime family friend, to serve as White House budget director. Bush...
By Doug Palmer and Sophie Walker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush abruptly changed his chief trade negotiator on Tuesday, casting more doubt on troubled world trade talks just weeks before a major deadline already in danger of slipping. With his domestic economic agenda facing stiff resistance in Congress, Bush tapped current U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, a well-liked former congressman and longtime family friend, to serve as White House budget director. Bush...
By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States should part ways with the European Union in world trade talks and focus most of its energy this year on bilateral free-trade deals, a top Republican lawmaker said on Monday. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas of California said he no longer believed the ambitious world trade agreement the United States has hoped for can be reached by the end of 2006, in large part because of the EU's resistance to go further on...
BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez warned China on Wednesday that rising protectionist anger in the United States could damage economic ties and urged Beijing to narrow the trade gap. Gutierrez said China needed to act on U.S. complaints about widespread Chinese piracy of films, software and other intellectual property, as well as demands to expand market access for American companies. But he said legislation threatening China was not the way to defuse...
BEIJING (Reuters) - Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez warned China on Wednesday that rising protectionist anger in the United States could damage economic ties and urged Beijing to narrow the trade gap. Gutierrez said China needed to act on U.S. complaints about widespread Chinese piracy of films, software and other intellectual property, as well as demands to expand market access for American companies. But he said legislation threatening China was not the way to defuse...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two senior senators on Tuesday proposed the U.S. Treasury create a new position to toughen efforts to get countries like China to let currencies appreciate to bring down U.S. trade deficits. A bill introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, and Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, urges creating a new assistant secretary post at the Treasury to focus on currency issues. In addition, it calls for the Treasury to consult...
By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee plan to introduce long-awaited China trade legislation on Tuesday -- a move that could siphon support from a controversial bill threatening China with tariffs. Senate Finance Committee Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, and Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, said in a press release on Friday they would unveil their bill on Tuesday. That is just a few days before the Senate is...
