Ways and Means Committee Leaders Disagree on China Conference Activity

While several key players portrayed negotiations as active on the trade title, House Ways and Means ranking member Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said: "We've had virtually no discussions on the trade provisions in the China conference. We're eager to get talking about it. The trade provisions are not going to be easy. I do think there's common ground, but the clock's ticking and we have a lot of work to do, and the sooner we get to it, the better."

Brady, who held a phone call with reporters June 14, was responding to a question about whether Democrats in the House are pushing back against the idea of retaining the Senate's language to direct the administration to reopen a Section 301 tariff exclusion process.

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, said it's possible that an action to grant exclusions by the administration could make it unnecessary to retain that provision. But he said it would depend on how many exclusions were granted, how long they last, and what ones they are. "I doubt that it would necessarily resolve all of the conflict that's going on right now," he said.

Crapo, who was answering questions during a brief hallway interview at the Capitol, characterized negotiations as "underway."

Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., also at the Capitol, said that there would be a meeting later in the afternoon about how to reach an agreement on what to include in the compromise trade title. "It's the first in maybe ten days, but the phone calls have been regular," he said. When told that Brady said that there isn't much negotiating activity on the trade title in the House, he responded, "That might be on their side but we are trying very hard to finesse this through a number of different mediums."