A lawyer with Crowell & Moring encouraged importers to apply for a Section 301 exclusion, even if their products aren't primarily used inside hospitals, and even if they were rejected in a previous round. Maria Vanikiotis said on a webinar April 15 that reflective triangles used to direct traffic were identified as needed to fight COVID-19 by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative even before the office opened a docket for more requests. “We feel there’s also quite a bit of room for creativity and what products may be considered relevant,” she said, including products that are used by remote workers, such as computer docks. “Shelf stable food products also could be within scope,” she said. “Essentially, there's no risk for making an argument.”
A recent Congressional Research Service report suggests that the U.S. may want to use safeguards deal with China's export-dominated strategy to rebuild its economy after the shutdowns needed to fight the coronavirus disease COVID-19. “Congress may want to carefully monitor or consider whether to impose requirements about potential predatory commercial activity in the United States,” the report said. “The potential for China to overwhelm global markets as it leans on exports for economic recovery,” the authors said, may mean that safeguards would be better than “waiting until market injury has already occurred to seek damages.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who last week said that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is not sympathetic to auto industry complaints about U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement implementation, said that after talking to Lighthizer again, he has a different view. Lawmakers recently asked the USTR to delay the USMCA rules of origin requirements (see 2004130035).
The Border Trade Alliance is asking Congress to consider including a “broad removal of tariffs” in the next round of relief funding, but if Congress does not intervene on sections 301 and 232, they recommend lifting tariffs related to the coronavirus pandemic response and an “automatic and indefinite extension” of Section 301 exclusions. They also said that a July 1 date of entry into force for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement would “be too aggressive. We would urge Congress, in consultation with the administration and our trade partners Canada and Mexico, to agree to a new enforcement date, ideally not before January 1, 2021.”
A group of 31 House lawmakers, led by Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., and Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., is asking the U.S. trade representative to delay the switch-over to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement auto rules of origin (ROO), even as the USMCA takes over from NAFTA. The group's letter, sent April 10, said the delay “is necessary to allow the auto industry an appropriate adjustment period and account for delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Alternatively, we ask that you seriously consider other accommodations or flexibilities that will allow the automotive sector to avoid being penalized by the new requirements upon the agreement’s entry into force.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said he will introduce a bill when the Senate returns to Washington that would raise tariffs on Saudi Arabian oil and oil byproducts. “Our nation’s economy, national security and the economic welfare of families across Louisiana is threatened by oil being dumped on the world market at below-production costs,” Cassidy said in an April 9 press release. “Tariffs will restore fair pricing.” The tariffs would vary by the current market price of oil, and would make Saudi imports cost at least $40 a barrel. The law orders the president to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act within 10 days of passage. The bill was described as actions “in response to Saudi Arabia’s aggression towards the United States petroleum industry.” It also instructs the administration to withdraw all military personnel from Saudi Arabia.
The draft regulations for auto rules of origin that have been circulating suggest that the rules won't be as flexible or practical as automakers would like, said David Bause, a project manager at MIC Customs Solutions. Bause, who spoke about the new NAFTA on a webinar April 9, used to be a customs manager for General Motors. Bause said stakeholders don't even know what the date of entry into force will be, or if the uniform regulations will be released by then. He said, “Logically one would think the earliest EIF is July 1 at this point, but from what we’re hearing, the U.S. government is still talking about June. Not sure that is technically possible.”
The World Trade Organization is forecasting a huge hit to trade around the world, but how bad it will be depends on how long the lockdowns persist, the organization said April 8. In an optimistic scenario, restrictions on movement are lifted after three months. In a pessimistic scenario, they're lifted (or partially lifted) after six months. And in the worst-case scenario, the stay-at-home orders last for a year, and even after they're over, a lot of the people who lost their jobs do not get back to work, so big-ticket purchases like cars and major appliances continue to be depressed in 2021.
The leaders of the congressional committees that oversee trade policy have asked the International Trade Commission to organize a list of all goods that relate to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with their tariff rates, any additional tariffs, and any tariff exclusions on those goods. They also want to know how much of these goods are imported from which countries -- and they want all the data by the end of the month. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told International Trade Today during a phone call with reporters April 7 that he'd like the tariffs to be eliminated on all the items the ITC identifies. He said assuming the study shows there were trade restrictions that interfered with the typical import patterns of these supplies, “That would be good ammunition to back up our argument.”
Export controls on masks used by medical workers -- an idea that had been floated (see 2004030063) -- have been averted, 3M announced the evening of April 6. The multinational company is producing 35 million masks a month in the U.S., and the president had said none of that production should be exported to Canada and Latin America, major recipients of that output. But now, the administration will address U.S. regulatory restrictions that prevented some Chinese masks from being used for medical workers, and 3M will import 166.5 million N95 masks, mostly from its China plant, over the next three months, the company said. “The plan will also enable 3M to continue sending U.S. produced respirators to Canada and Latin America, where 3M is the primary source of supply,” the press release noted.