House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., introduced a bill that would add eligibility requirements to the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, including whether the country either has established, or is making continual progress toward establishing, “the rule of law, political pluralism, the right to due process, a fair trial and equal protection under the law,” and whether those countries are working to “reduce poverty, increase the availability of health care and educational opportunities,” among other goals, including combating corruption. It also would predicate eligibility on whether a country effectively enforces its environmental laws and regulations, and is fulfilling its international environmental obligations, including those related to public health.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said that he hopes that a technical fixes bill for USMCA can pass this month, but its passage is hung up on whether goods manufactured in foreign-trade zones should be able to benefit from USMCA if those goods meet the rules of origin.
China's attempts at using economic tools, such as export controls on rare earth minerals or punishing imports from Australia, have only been somewhat successful, according to Maximilian Ernst, the speaker on the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies webinar Dec. 7, called “How to Respond to China’s Carrots and Sticks? Prospects of a Transatlantic Response to Chinese Economic Coercion.” Ernst is researching Chinese coercion for a Ph.D.
More than 200 businesses and trade groups, led by the National Association of Manufacturers, are asking House and Senate leadership to include a renewal of the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill in the spending bill Congress is working to pass this month. The omnibus appropriations bill, which covers the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, is attracting lobbying on many trade priorities, including the alcohol excise tax reduction for small producers, the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, and more.
Supply chain scholars disagreed on how likely companies are to move production out of China, either due to tariffs or to a desire to diversify sourcing, but agreed that companies aren't likely to be ready for demand shocks without government support. They spoke Dec. 4 during a webinar hosted by the Center for Global Development.
Former House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, and a former Democratic congressman both say that trying to return to the Trans-Pacific Partnership can't happen in the medium term. Boehner and former Rep. Joe Crowley of New York were speaking on a Meridian International Center online program Dec. 4. Boehner said that “without Trade Promotion Authority, the administration's hands will be tied” on joining the TPP. He said it would be “a pretty tall ask” to get TPA renewed in 2021. “I think there will be engagement” on trade with Asian countries other than China, he said, adding: “I think it will be pretty small.” Crowley agreed, saying that although the incoming Joe Biden administration seems inclined to multilateral trade approaches, “TPP, it's a big, big, big step. I don't see that happening in the first two years.”
United Steelworkers recommended a candidate to the Joe Biden transition team for the next U.S. trade representative, and emphasized how important that USTR pick is to the union, President Tom Conway told a virtual audience for a webinar hosted by the Alliance for American Manufacturing. “We expect to see a bunch of friends we can work with,” Conway said Dec. 3. AAM is partly funded by the Steelworkers, and an AAM employee is volunteering on the USTR transition team.
The International Trade Commission, in preparation for a possible global safeguard action against imported fresh or chilled strawberries and bell peppers, is beginning to monitor imports, and how they compete with domestic producers. The ITC said Dec. 2 that it would like to hear about growers' employment, profits, losses and production from 2016-2020. It also wants to know about the volume of imports in these tariff lines -- 0810.10, 0709.60.40.15, 0709.60.40.25, 0709.60.40.65, 0709.60.40.85 -- and what the principal source countries are. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer requested this action (see 2011060042), as he has been told that there's unfair competition with Mexican growers of those products (see 2009020016). Written submissions are due by 5:15 p.m. EST on Jan. 15, 2021.
The head of the House Ways and Means Committee, along with the chairman and a senior member of the Trade Subcommittee, said Dec. 3 that they “have deep concerns about CBP’s ability” to effectively enforce a withhold release order on cotton produced by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (see 2012030021). As evidence, they cited a recent Government Accountability Office report on CBP enforcement of imports of goods made with forced labor that was not publicly released.
House Ways and Means Committee member Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., said that although “the politics of trade are fairly tricky,” she feels confident in saying “things can't get any worse” for free trade during the Biden administration. Murphy, one of two members of the House speaking on a Cato Institute webinar about what to expect in trade with a new president, said she's encouraged by President-elect Joe Biden's choices for the secretaries of the treasury and state, and the head of the National Security Council, because all of the individuals recognize that trade is an important tool in foreign policy.