Five Republican senators, only one of whom voted for the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), are asking that Senate conferees drop the directive to reopen a Section 301 exclusion process, and add a number of trade provisions only found in the House China package. Some House proposals that Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Ala., Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Florida's two senators, Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, both Republicans, want to include:
The North American auto industry is waiting with baited breath for the panel decision on the interpretation of the auto rules of origin, and for the additional guidance from CBP to the auto industry, according to Dan Ujczo, a USMCA maven with clients in the auto industry. Ujczo, a senior counsel at Thompson Hine, said in a July 6 phone interview that one of the areas where importers need clarity is in how steel in vehicles can be certified as North American before the melted and poured standard arrives in 2027.
Emissions-intensive, trade-exposed goods such as cement, paper, glass, steel and chemicals are likely to be those facing carbon border adjustment taxes, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report about both the possibility of the taxes going into effect in Canada and the EU and what Congress would need to consider if it wanted to pass its own version.
A report to Congress designed to reveal whether a stricter auto rules of origin in USMCA is effective says no conclusions can be drawn because of the effects of the pandemic and ensuing semiconductor shortage that has reduced production of automobiles worldwide. The auto industry told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that the semiconductor shortage meant 1,520,000 fewer vehicles were built in 2021, and that this year, they expected one million fewer vehicles to be built, because the shortages have not yet been resolved.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, one of the most public voices for rolling back some of the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods to ease inflation, spoke with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the main trade contact, about "unfair, non-market [Chinese] economic practices," according to a readout of the July 4 call.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who voted for the Senate's China package last year, publicly threw a wrench into the already difficult negotiations to hash out a compromise between the House and Senate approaches to investing in America and competing with China.
Solar panel exports were already facing heightened CBP scrutiny under a withhold release order affecting a major supplier of polysilicon, a material used to make ingots that are then made into cells, which are then made into panels. But the early results of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act enforcement suggest that the Biden administration is willing to strictly enforce UFLPA "despite impacts on [solar panel] supply and pricing," said Tim Brightbill, a trade lawyer at Wiley.
Ethiopia was exporting more than $100 million annually of apparel and textiles to the U.S. before it was ousted from the African Growth and Opportunity Act program over civil strife, and a prominent apparel firm and apparel trade group are asking that it be restored.
Of the top 15 exports from Russia last year to the U.S., three were already banned and only two of the others will see its tariff rate hiked to 35%, the rate President Joe Biden announced during his trip to Europe.
CBP wants to develop incentives for green trade, possibly by reviewing authorized economic operator programs, and said that its initial green trade strategy, published June 28, is not the limit of its aspirations. "The goal is to identify incentives that aim to reduce carbon emissions, encourage the use of eco-friendly modes of transport, and support adoption of technologies and practices with positive environmental impacts. Incentives would encourage green trade practices while avoiding negative impacts on the flow of legitimate cargo," the strategy says.