Senators seek vote soon on China tariff bill
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Two leading U.S. Senate critics of  China's currency policy pressed on Thursday for action on a  bill that would threaten steep tariffs, in a show of  frustration days before Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is to  make his first official visit to China.
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Republican unity on Iraq, strained but so far holding, is coming under still more pressure in the Senate as lawmakers from both parties float proposals to get troops out soon.
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A bill authorizing construction of a   fence along the U.S. border with Mexico advanced in the U.S.   Senate on Thursday as Republican backers pushed to get an   immigration measure to President George W. Bush desk before the   November 7 elections.
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Companies on both sides of a patent overhaul debate in the U.S. Congress are stepping up the pressure on lawmakers, as some observers expect a vote soon in the Senate.Two groups, one supporting patent legislation before the Senate and one against it, held dueling media briefings on patent reform on Capitol Hill Thursday. Members of the Coalition for Patent Fairness, including lawyers from Hewlett-Packard, Cisco Systems, and SAP, said they see broad support for the Patent Reform Act in the Senate and hope senators will soon&#160;follow the House of Representatives&#39; lead and pass the bill.The coalition sent a letter to Senate leaders Wednesday, calling on them to pass the Patent Reform Act. The bill will &quot;benefit all American workers and American consumers,&quot; said the letter, signed by 128 companies and organizations, including Amazon, Dell, eBay, and Intel.But another group, the Innovation Alliance, sent a letter to Senate leaders Tuesday urging them to reject the legislation.&quot;No compelling case has been made for a bill written in this fashion,&quot; read the Innovation Alliance letter, signed by 430 companies and organizations. &quot;It is based on claims of a crisis in the current patent system that does not exist, supported by selective assertions which do not hold up under scrutiny.&quot;Among the companies and organizations signing the Innovation Alliance letter were the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA, the NanoBusiness Alliance, Cargill, Coca-Cola, and Qualcomm.Both the House and Senate versions of the Patent Reform Act would overhaul the U.S. patent system, but two pieces of the legislation have generated the most controversy. The bills would create a new way to challenge patents after they&#39;ve been granted, and it would allow courts to change the way they assess damages in patent-infringement cases.Currently, courts generally consider the value of the entire product when a small piece of the product infringes a patent. The legislation would allow courts to base damages only on the value of the infringing piece.Those changes would create uncertainty about the validity of patents and drive venture capital money away from innovative companies, said Joe Kiani, CEO of Masimo, a medical equipment vendor in Irvine, Calif.Combined with recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings, including one limiting the use of injunctions by plaintiffs in patent infringement lawsuits, the Patent Reform Act would significantly decrease the value of many patents, argued Kiani and other participants in an Innovation Alliance forum.The bill &quot;opens the way for other countries like China to bring technology here that will be a fraction of the cost and will be copies of our technology,&quot; Kiani said.Panelists at the Innovation Alliance forum said they&#39;d support patent reform that gives more money to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), allowing examiners to better research patent applications. &quot;We support prudent patent reform,&quot; said Sean Murdock, executive director of the NanoBusiness Alliance, a trade group representing nanotech companies. &quot;Simply stated, the current bill, in its current form, is not prudent.&quot;But members of the Coalition for Patent Reform, in a press briefing a couple of hours later, said Congress needs to fix problems with &quot;patent speculators&quot; suing established companies. The Supreme Court rulings and more money for the USPTO aren&#39;t enough, said Tim Crean, chief intellectual property officer for SAP.In the past two years, the Supreme Court has ruled on several patent issues, including a case involving eBay. In May 2006, the court overturned a long-term U.S. court practice of issuing injunctions against infringing products in nearly all patent cases.Despite the Supreme Court rulings, the number of patent lawsuits continues to grow, said Crean and Michael Holston, general counsel for HP. This year is shaping up to be a record year for patent lawsuits, Holston said.The coalition found about 625 patent lawsuits in 20 selected U.S. district courts in 1990. Through Sept. 30, the same 20 courts have seen about 1,550 patent lawsuits in 2007, the coalition said.HP will spend about $75 million defending against patent lawsuits this year, Holston said. More than half of those lawsuits come from patent &quot;speculators&quot; -- companies that buy patents for the purpose of filing lawsuits, he added.The patent system is &quot;being exploited through litigation games,&quot; added Mark Chandler, general counsel for Cisco.
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The Bush administration, under pressure from a Democratic-controlled Congress to do something about America's soaring trade deficit, filed a trade case Friday against China in a dispute involving government subsidies.
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The Senate may vote as soon as next week on a bill to reform product safety regulation after months of recalls of shoddy goods, many of them toys made in China, said a key lawmaker and Senate aides on Thursday.
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The U.S. House of Representatives  should vote on a trade agreement with Vietnam before President  George W. Bush visits the country in mid-November, a top  Republican said on Tuesday.
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Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called yesterday for the creation of a federal import czar, blaming problems with the safety and quality of Chinese imports on unexacting inspections and a bureaucratic morass.
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The world will be watching China closely as it gears up to host the Olympics this year. So will U.S. lawmakers, who hope to use the attention generated by the summer games to highlight their complaints about China's government.
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US officials visiting Beijing this weekend will press China to limit textile exports and crack down harder on piracy, reflecting pressure for trade concessions ahead of US elections in November, economists and trade lawyers said.
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Bloomberg - Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- House lawmakers are working to pass legislation to extend dozens of trade and tax benefits and preserve fees that Medicare pays doctors knowing that some senators may object when it gets to their chamber.
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A free trade agreement with Peru, the first under the new Democratic majority that gives labor rights and the environment equal treatment to lower tariffs and greater market access, is set for a vote in the House.
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Congress was pushing on Friday to finish legislation that would boost security at U.S. ports, but the bill was attracting a flurry of last-minute amendments with both parties viewing it as a must-pass measure ahead of November elections.
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Lawmakers clashed on Thursday over  the future of trade policy, with many Democrats cheering the  demise of White House &quot;fast track&quot; negotiating authority and  top Republicans calling for its swift renewal.
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The U.S., European Union and Canada said they planned to ask the W.T.O. to investigate whether China has unfairly raised tariffs on imported auto parts.
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The first of several free-trade proposals facing this Congress is about to be passed. But it may well be the last &#13;&#10;
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By Tom Searls, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.  Sep. 23--Senators could decide by Monday whether to force chemical companies to take further security measures under an amendment offered by U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va.