Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., reacting to a report in Inside U.S. Trade that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative decided not to launch a new Section 301 investigation on China yet, sent a letter March 15 to USTR Katherine Tai asking whether the report is accurate and if so, why. A USTR spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment on the letter. Cotton wrote that the Chinese Communist Party "has shown nothing but malice towards this nation and should be shown no leniency in our response to its economic aggression. For this reason, I am deeply disappointed to learn that USTR is not pursuing an expansive set of Section 301 investigations into China’s anti-competitive and illegal trade practices."
Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, have reintroduced a bill, the Securing America’s Ports of Entry Act, that would hire at least 600 additional CBP officers a year until airports, seaports and land ports of entry are fully staffed.
Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., introduced a bill March 16 that would give CBP the authority to share information with rights holders when counterfeit goods are imported into the United States. A similar provision passed the Senate in its China package, known as the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. USICA authorizes CBP to share information on suspected violations of intellectual property rights with “any other party with an interest in the merchandise.” Restrictions on sharing information about counterfeits with trademark holders have been a hurdle to stopping counterfeits, CBP has said (see 2104160033).
A bill that ends Russia's and Belarus's ability to export goods to the U.S. under the same tariff treatment as most of the rest of the world passed the House 424-8. Only Cuba and North Korea are subject to Column 2 tariffs; there is an embargo on imports from North Korea, and the U.S. imports almost nothing from Cuba. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said he intends to send this bill and the ban on oil, natural gas and coal imports from Russia, to the Senate at the same time.
Senators on the Finance Committee agreed that deepening trade ties with countries in Asia is important both for geopolitical and economic reasons, but they disagreed during a March 15 hearing on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework about whether a traditional free-trade agreement is a better approach than the IPEF.
House leaders had thought there could be a vote to remove Russia's permanent normal trade relations status on March 16, but both the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee and the majority leader, who schedules bills for a vote, said that text that is accepted by both parties is nearly done. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, told International Trade Today during a press call that the text just needs to be finished so that there can be "a chance to brief our members in the House before it goes to a vote."
Members of Congress from Ohio, Texas, California, Michigan, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, New York, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington are asking the Commerce Department to "fully and fairly examine allegations that Chinese solar companies are circumventing antidumping and countervailing duties" on Chinese solar panels. Commerce said last week it needed more time to decide whether to take up a petition from Auxin Solar (see 2203090077). The letter, sent March 15, was led by Reps. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., and Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio.
The Commerce Department hasn't granted a steel or aluminum tariff exclusion since Dec. 17, 2021, and its last denial was posted Oct. 29, 2021. A lobbyist in the trade world said he has unsuccessfully tried to get to the bottom of why the Bureau of Industry and Security doesn't seem to be processing the applications at the moment. He said the Commerce Department told one office on Capitol Hill "there is no problem" and "that it's all functioning normally."
The Commerce Department is soliciting comments from companies, academics and other researchers, labor unions and civil society on how the U.S. should negotiate with countries to create an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. They'd like to hear stakeholders' advice on general negotiating objectives; supply chain resilience; digital and emerging technologies' treatment; how the IPEF could address clean energy, decarbonization and infrastructure; and tax- and anti-corruption-related issues. Comments are due on or before April 11.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan., introduced a bill that would allow for a one-year waiver of antidumping and countervailing duties "if there is an emergency situation including natural disasters, war, epidemics, labor disputes, or major accidents."