An amendment that will allow expanded information sharing from CBP on counterfeits, and which will renew the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, will be part of the China package expected to pass the week of June 8. The amendment, sponsored by Finance Committee ranking member Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, was modified slightly from its first introduction, when it failed to pass the filibuster threshold of 60 votes. This version, which passed with 91 votes on May 27, no longer expands a forced labor initiative on seafood to all seafood products.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told senators that the preliminary finding that antidumping and countervailing duties ought to roughly double on imported Canadian software lumber "couldn’t have come at a worse time," since she has been hearing from stakeholders consistently that the surge in the price of lumber is hurting builders and consumers. Raimondo, who was testifying at a May 26 hearing before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that covers her agency, was first asked about the issue by ranking member Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan.
During a round of votes on amendments on the Senate China package on May 25, Senate Finance Committee ranking member Mike Crapo's amendment, which called for renewing the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, failed to pass (see 2105210045). It garnered 53 votes, with all Republicans joined by Sens. Angus King, I-Maine; Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., but it did not get the 60 votes needed for approval.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., introduced a bill that would create a rebuttable presumption that all goods mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part in Xinjiang, or by organizations working with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region's government in the guise of poverty alleviation, were made with forced labor and cannot be admitted into the U.S. If CBP determines “by clear and convincing evidence” that the goods were not produced by indentured, convict or forced labor, then the goods could enter. This section of the Ensuring American Global Leadership and Engagement Act, or EAGLE Act, would take effect 120 days after the bill is enacted.
The Coalition for a Prosperous America says that the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill lead to offshoring and a low-wage workforce in the U.S., and that the MTB is "abused by importers who lobby against policies to boost domestic production, and it conflicts with the national imperative to re-shore the industries and jobs we have lost."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has proposed that CBP be given the authority to exclude from entry into the U.S. any articles produced by a foreign firm that misappropriated a trade secret, when that theft has been proven by either a court or the International Trade Commission, under Section 337. The amendment, published May 24 in the Congressional Record, notes that the Section 337 process may not provide complete relief "because the foreign person has used or is reasonably likely to use the misappropriated trade secret in the home country of the foreign person or a third country."
The Endless Frontiers legislation continues to attract amendments relevant to trade, such as Sen. Josh Hawley's amendment, published May 24, that would make countries ineligible for participation in the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program if any product from that country is identified by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs as one made with child labor or forced labor. Hawley, R-Mo., also proposes that, starting 90 days after the bill's passage, there will be an additional 100% duty on all goods produced in Xinjiang, or goods with components from Xinjiang, for at least one year. At that time, the tariff would only be lifted if the administration "determines beyond a reasonable doubt that no slave labor, forced labor, indentured labor, or child labor exists in the People’s Republic of China; and submits to Congress and makes available to the public a report on that determination." There have been hundreds of amendments proposed for the China package, and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will decide which ones deserve floor debate and a vote. He has said he wants a vote to happen this week.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the U.S. and Canada could not reach an agreement on the administration of Canada's dairy tariff rate quotas, so the dispute will be decided by a panel. At issue is the fact that Canada has reserved the large majority of TRQs for Canadian processors, which means that consumer goods produced in the U.S. like ice cream, cheese or yogurt face higher tariffs in Canada because very little of the TRQ is available to Canadian retailers. Even when it's not restricted to processors, the TRQs are reserved for distributors, which means American producers cannot pitch their goods at lower prices directly to retail chains.
The Commerce Department is preliminary set to increase antidumping and countervailing duties on Canadian softwood, possibly at the end of November, as a result of AD and CVD administrative reviews, according to notices set for publication soon in the Federal Register.
Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.; and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., are criticizing the Biden administration's decision to rescind a Trump-era order that banned the importation of bulk power electrical equipment from China or other adversaries (see 2005040040). The Department of Energy “has a significant responsibility to protect the U.S. electric grid and help ensure that critical equipment supplied from foreign adversaries does not pose a risk to the national security of the citizens of the United States. While President [Joe] Biden’s CIA director recently acknowledged that China is 'formidable authoritarian adversary' your agency’s action does not appear to treat them as one,” the May 19 letter said.