Companies that import components or finished goods are reevaluating their supply chains in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, said Andrea Little Limbago, vice president of research and analysis for Interos, a supply risk management company. Little Limbago, who spoke at an Atlantic Council webinar Sept. 23 on how technology can improve global supply chains, said that Interos surveyed 450 executives across many industries, and 98% had disruption during the COVID-19 surge this year. She said that while logistics were a major part of the disruption -- and those are starting to get worked out -- 25% of the executives said they work with vendors who went bankrupt. “We're just on the tip of that,” she said.
House Ways and Means Committee Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., cast doubt on Congress voting to renew the Generalized System of Preferences trade benefits program before it expires, and on passing a new Miscellaneous Tariff Bill to cover imports in 2021 and 2022. He told an online audience at the Washington International Trade Association Sept. 23 that it's too soon to say whether a vote would be possible.
A bill that would change the presumption of guilt for goods coming from China's Xinjiang region passed the House of Representatives on a 406-3 vote Sept. 22. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., an original co-sponsor of the bill, spoke on the floor of the House before the vote. He said “creating a rebuttable assumption” of forced labor in all Xinjiang products is the most important part of the bill.
The House of Representatives gave approval Sept. 22 for a 10-year renewal of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act. For it to stay in force beyond its expiration date, Sept. 30, the Senate will have to follow suit with a unanimous consent process (see 2009210048).
The Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act has been placed on the voting calendar, and is likely to get a vote on Sept. 23, as it is the first in a second-day list of “suspension bills” under consideration. The first slate of suspension bills will have votes on Sept. 22, if anyone calls for a recorded vote on Sept. 21. Suspension bills can also progress without recorded votes. For suspension bills, floor debate is limited, amendments are prohibited, and a two-thirds vote is required for passage. Only non-controversial bills are submitted this way.
The final forms of two bills addressing American commercial involvement with Uighur forced labor will be considered for votes this week, but the rewrites by the Rules Committee soften the impact on businesses, particularly in apparel and shoes. The Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act now also has the disclosure bill incorporated into the language.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, is arguing that not only does the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program need to be renewed this year, the length of authorization should be substantially lengthened. It is currently on a two-year authorization; Heritage says 10 years would make it more useful to American businesses that take advantage of the tariff relief, as making supply chain decisions takes time.
Customs brokers and a trade attorney urged trade professionals to work with their importers now to prepare for enforcement of USMCA next year. Monica DeMars, manager of corporate customs for C.H. Robinson, told attendees at a National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference session on Sept. 18 that when CBP begins enforcing USMCA, it will look at July-December entries from this year, not just start enforcing prospectively.
The trade group that represents 12 foreign companies that have auto manufacturing operations in the U.S. says that the dialogue with the U.S. trade representative on alternative staging regimes will be ongoing for “the next several months.” Jennifer Safavian, CEO of Autos Drive America, spoke with reporters Sept. 16. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative must bless each manufacturer's plan to move toward USMCA rules of origin for that company to get a five-year transition to higher regional value content standards, and a slower transition to meeting new labor value content standards. She said all three countries will have to approve each alternative staging plan.
Worker rights advocates, from non-governmental organizations and the AFL-CIO, say that the company-by-company withhold release orders on goods from Xinjiang are not enough to prevent goods made with forced labor from entering the U.S., while the head of a major apparel trade group said targeted enforcement is the only way to follow the evidence. They were all witnesses at a House Ways and Means Committee Trade Subcommittee hearing on enforcing the ban on the importation of goods made with forced labor from the Xinjiang region in China.