In 2005-2006, Sen. Jim Talent (R-MO) proposed 42 bills that if approved would reduce by millions of dollars the import duties paid by large corporations on specific chemicals used to manufacture pesticides.
Most of these trade amendments list German chemical giants BASF Corp. or Bayer CropScience as the "proponent," in reports issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) that estimate over $10M per year in U.S. Customs revenue loss.
A classic example of pork barrel politics, this election cycle Talent has received over $600,000 in campaign contributions from the agribusiness sector, almost 25% more than even Senate Agriculture Committee head Saxby Chambliss (R-GA).
The sole sponsor on all 42 bills, Talent proposed 33 of these amendments to the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule on a single day last last April.
All 33 were immediately referred to Finance Committee, where they will now remain until after next week's elections. In addition, the USITC has only released recommendations for a few of the bills.
However, every chemical on the list for review had been submitted to the USITC in 2005 by a MO member of the U.S. House: 3 by Rep. Cleaver (D), and the rest by Reps. Hulsholf (R) and Graves (R).
The reported $10M estimated loss of revenue to U.S. Customs has been derived from existing USITC reports for Sen. Talent's currently proposed amendments, and loss reported in response to the 2005 bills that include projections for 2006.
The table below shows the dates, bill numbers, chemicals proposed for suspension of duty, and estimated customs revenue loss:
Some Contributions
AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL PAC
* $4000
AMERICAN SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION PAC (SOYPAC)
* $2000
BASF CORPORATION EMPLOYEES POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
* $10,000
BAYER CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
* $9,000
CARGILL INCORPORATED POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
* $10,000
DUPONT GOOD GOVERNMENT FUND
*$6,000
FERT PAC
* $2,000
MONSANTO COMPANY CITIZENSHIP FUND AKA MONSANTO CITIZENSHIP FUND
* $10,000
PAC OF EMPLOYEES OF DOW CHEMICAL (PACE)
* $3000
SYNGENTA CORPORATION EMPLOYEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (SYNGENTA PAC)
* $1,500
ZENECA INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
* $9,000