A former Trump political appointee said that he believes the concentration of solar panel making and inputs in China is a major concern for the U.S. as it looks to an energy transition, and suggested the campaign against blood diamonds could be a model for how to deal with human rights abuses alleged in the production of polysilicon in China's Xinjiang province. That campaign relied on traders' desire to avoid reputational risk, and self-policing among distributors. But Keith Krach, formerly State Department undersecretary for economic growth, energy and the environment from 2019 to the end of the Trump administration, also suggested that a forced labor ban could be a future action.
Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry, when asked about the utility of a domestic carbon tax, said the idea is under consideration. “President [Joe] Biden, I know, is particularly interested in evaluating the carbon border adjustment mechanism, he wants to look at that and see whether that’s something that we need to deploy,” Kerry said. “Europe is already looking at that in depth and may well wind up deploying it if they don’t get satisfaction from China and other countries with respect to the transition off of coal and their effort to try to do their part in reducing emissions.”
The European Union, Japan, South Korea and U.S. all recognize they will be at the mercy of China during the energy transition unless they change the supply chains for batteries, experts said. The U.S. has nickel mines and a lithium mine (with another in process of opening), but China's dominance in processing minerals and making cathodes and anodes means China still could interfere with America's ability to produce economical electric vehicle batteries.
The U.S. should lead the charge to reopen the Environmental Goods Agreement in Geneva, House Ways and Means Republicans wrote April 22, on Earth Day. This follows a resolution introduced earlier in the month by four pro-trade Democrats calling for the same thing (see 2104080050).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced a technical correction that allows refunds for products exported after the tariffs were hiked from 10% to 25% but on the water at the time the increase was announced. The notice, set for Federal Register publication April 26, says goods that left China before May 10, 2019, and entered the U.S. before June 15, 2019, and are covered by a Section 301 exclusion, are now excluded.
The Safe Cribs Act, which would ban the sale of crib bumpers, was reintroduced in the Senate April 20 by Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. A version of the bill introduced in the House in 2019 passed out of committee during the previous Congress. That these deadly products can still be found on shelves across the country is extremely confusing to new parents who don’t believe stores would be selling them if they were truly dangerous to babies,” Duckworth said. “We should be doing everything we can to help new parents and end preventable deaths like these, which is why I’m proud to be introducing this bipartisan bill with Senators Portman and Blumenthal that would ban the sale of deadly padded crib bumpers.” The Consumer Product Safety Commission a year ago proposed a rule updating its standard to ban padded bumpers but allow mesh bumpers (see 2004020039). That proposed rule has not yet become final, and according to the most recent stakeholder meeting notes posted by CPSC, it may be difficult to find test labs that can certify the air flow standard described in the proposed rule.
Thirty Republicans, led by Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, and seven Democrats, led by Sen. Tom Carper of Del., asked U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to renew expired Section 301 exclusions. “Some inputs for American manufacturers and small businesses remain unavailable outside of China,” the letter, sent April 21, said. The senators, joined by independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, said expiring exclusions should also be renewed, to give companies time to modify their supply chains. They also said they hoped the office different would reopen applications for exclusions. “Such a process should emphasize transparency, speed, consistency, and fairness, and should acknowledge both the practical realities of global value chains and the broader aim of supply chain diversification,” they wrote.
A witness at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on China and trade competitiveness told senators that if the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill and his company's Section 301 exclusion aren't granted retroactively, Element Electronics would be forced to move production out of the U.S.
A bill that aims “to protect American businesses and government institutions from attacks designed to steal sensitive information” was introduced April 21 by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., his office announced. The Combating Chinese Purloining (CCP) of Trade Secrets Act would expand penalties for companies, business associations or individuals who misappropriate trade secrets, the press release said. The penalties mentioned include “import restrictions,” denial of export licenses, visa denials and a prohibition on applications for patent protection. The text of the bill is not yet available.
Former U.S. negotiators for the Environmental Goods Agreement at the World Trade Organization say the collapse of talks in 2016 means trying again with the countries that are major players in solar panels, wind turbines and the like is not likely to be productive this year. Mark Linscott, former assistant U.S. trade representative at the WTO, said he thinks even getting the fisheries subsidies deal done in Geneva this year is “dicey.” He recalled that it seemed promising when a plurilateral approach was taken on EGA, and China, when it was in the rotating chair at the G-20 group of nations, it pushed for a ministerial statement on the EGA that said it had found a landing zone, and the countries would “aim to conclude ... an ambitious, future-oriented EGA that that seeks to eliminate tariffs on a broad range of environmental goods by an EGA Ministerial meeting to be held by the end of 2016.”