Committee clears Commerce enforcement nominee

The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday favorably reported the nomination of Jeffrey Kessler, setting up the full Senate to consider confirmation.

   The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday unanimously cleared the White House’s nominee to be assistant secretary of Commerce for enforcement and compliance for consideration by the full Senate.
   The committee had favorably reported the nominee, Jeffrey Kessler, in June, but President Donald Trump had to resubmit several nominations after the Senate did not confirm them last Congress.
   Housed within the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration, the enforcement and compliance division enforces antidumping and countervailing duty laws, administers the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones program and works to ensure compliance of U.S. trading partners with free trade agreements.
   During his June 12 confirmation hearing, Kessler, who has worked as a trade attorney at Wilmer Hale, said if he’s confirmed he would seriously consider Commerce self-initiating AD/CV duty cases, in line with current department policy.
   In the first AD and CV duty cases self-initiated by the U.S. government in more than 30 years, the International Trade Commission by a vote of 5-0 in December determined that imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from China materially injure U.S. industry, after Commerce set AD duty rates ranging from 49.85 percent to 59.72 percent and CV duty rates ranging from 46.48 percent to 116.49 percent.
   Other trade and logistics nominees awaiting confirmation include Jeffrey Nadaner to be assistant secretary of Commerce for export enforcement; Amy Karpel and Randolph Stayin to be members of the International Trade Commission; M. Miller Baker and Timothy Reif to be judges on the Court of International Trade; Ronald Vitiello to be director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Kimberly Reed to be president of the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank board of directors; Spencer Bachus, Claudia Slacik and Judith DelZoppo Pryor to be members of the Ex-Im Bank board; Ann Marie Buerkle to be reappointed as a commissioner on the Consumer Product Safety Commission; Darrell Issa to be director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency; and Michelle Schultz to be a member of the Surface Transportation Board.