Congress will pass a spending bill before leaving next week, and while everyone wants to attach their legislation to it, the prospect for Haitian trade preferences to get a ride seems relatively strong.
A discussion draft modifying a carbon border tax bill narrows the product list, removing fossil fuels, chemicals and other goods that were original targets of the Senate bill, which was introduced a year ago (see 2311030006).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is hiking tariffs on Chinese solar wafers and polysilicon to 50% and Chinese tungsten products covered by Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings 8101.94.00, 8101.99.10 and 8101.99.80 will face 25% tariffs, beginning Jan. 1.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., asked U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to open a Section 301 trade investigation on Chinese garlic growers, arguing that the sector is subsidized by forced labor and "other unfair and unethical trade practices."
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative opened a Section 301 investigation on Nicaragua's actions and practices "related to labor rights, human rights, and the rule of law," saying that it is concerned that Nicaragua's "repressive and persistent attacks" on these rights and violations of the rule of law may burden U.S. commerce.
House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., said that there will be a renewed bipartisan effort to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act next year. He called AGOA "something that is very beneficial to our U.S. trade policy." But LaHood left the door open to phasing out or changing the third-party fabric provision of AGOA in the 2025 reauthorization.
Running a large trade surplus with the U.S. is only one way to draw President-elect Donald Trump's tariff fire, argues a new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation; other ways would be by expecting the U.S. to provide a defense umbrella, enacting digital services taxes or other anti-U.S. regulations, and taking what ITIF called "soft positions toward China."
Restricting de minimis was never a natural fit for the defense policy bill, one of only two major bills expected to get a vote in the lame duck session of Congress. A bill to fund the government past Dec. 20 is the other.
President-elect Donald Trump said the U.S. is "subsidizing Canada to the tune [of] over $100 billion a year. We’re subsidizing Mexico for almost $300 billion. We shouldn’t be -- why are we subsidizing these countries? If we’re going to subsidize them, let them become a state."
Four senators, a pair from both parties, introduced a bill that would authorize the U.S. trade representative, with consultation with Congress about objectives, to negotiate specialized trade agreements focused on critical minerals and rare earth elements. Those trade agreements would also need to get a vote of approval from Congress before they could enter into force.