With the expected shift to a Republican majority in the House -- and the retirement from Congress of former Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady -- Republicans will have three choices to lead the powerful committee.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said that if China has not complied with its World Trade Organization accession provisions, Congress should pass a law "to immediately suspend China’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations" treatment, which would mean that Chinese imports would face higher base tariffs than from nearly all other countries. Then Congress should assess what conditions it would require to renew Chinese imports' eligibility for Most Favored Nation Tariffs, the commission said in its annual report, released Nov. 15.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told reporters there is bipartisan support for renewing the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, but he elided the primary issue that has held up the two programs all year -- House Democrats' insistence Trade Adjustment Assistance be renewed at the same time. House Republicans oppose renewing TAA, saying there is no tariff-lowering agenda for U.S. exports at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (see 2209200068). Wyden spoke on a phone call Nov. 15.
Of all the outstanding trade policy options -- new trade promotion authority, requiring Section 301 exclusions, revisions to antidumping law and a customs modernization law -- the head of government relations at Flexport said he thinks customs modernization is the most likely to pass. "I think we are coming on the cusp of something," Darien Flowers said, and said he thinks a bill will be enacted before 2025. Flowers once worked for Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who is leading the bill, though more recently he served on the minority staff of the Senate Commerce Committee.
NEW YORK -- At the U.S. Fashion Industry Association trade conference, the group's Washington counsel said that he believes there's a high likelihood that the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill will be passed before Congress goes home in December. USFIA President Julia Hughes added that because some of the members who are retiring are pro-trade, and they recognize that sentiment is waning in Congress, "that's gonna be an impetus to do something during the lame duck. Whether they're successful or not, that's not clear yet."
A recent report by Reuters, which detailed how CBP detained 1,053 shipments related to solar panels over four months ended Oct. 25, drew an angry response from China and a warning from a customs lawyer whose firm is helping companies deal with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which took effect June 21 (see 2206210022).
NEW YORK -- CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner AnnMarie Highsmith, who leads the Office of Trade, told an audience of apparel professionals that CBP will be providing "some additional resources" on Nov. 16 to comply with the ban on importing goods made with forced labor. She didn't say what those are, but the comment came immediately after she said that the Department of Homeland Security will be continuing to update the entity list of firms connected to China's Xinjiang region.
NEW YORK -- The standard of proof for cotton importers is tremendously high, compliance officials said during a panel at the Nov. 10 Apparel Importers Trade and Transportation Conference.
The relationship between trade and green industrial policy is in tension, but Washington International Trade Association webinar panelists also said both supporting domestic interests and imports is unavoidable as the U.S. moves to reduce greenhouse gases.
At least one broker on a CBP webinar on how new Part 111 broker regulations will be implemented continued to be confused about how to determine if the company has a "sufficient" number of licensed customs brokers to supervise employees who file customs entries.