House Ways and Means Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer is introducing "The Import Security and Fairness Act," which would add some restrictions around the $800 de minimis level. Under the bill, goods from countries that are both non-market economies and on the U.S. Trade Representative's intellectual property watch list wouldn't be eligible for de minimis provisions. Currently, the only country that is both a non-market economy and labeled as an IP violator is China. Blumenauer has said that 83% of de minimis packages come from China.
Canada's Trade Minister Mary Ng said she told Canadian softwood lumber industry leaders that ending U.S. duties on their products "is a top priority for the Government of Canada. U.S. duties on softwood lumber are unfair." Ng said she spoke with the U.S. National Association of Home Builders and other stakeholders, as well as members of Congress and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai during a recent visit to Washington, and told them all that Canada wants "to discuss ways to reach a mutually acceptable resolution on this matter." Years ago, the U.S. and Canada had a tariff rate quota system that adjusted so that as prices rose beyond a certain threshold in the U.S., more Canadian lumber imports were allowed under the quota.
A dispute panel that will consider whether the U.S. interpretation of auto rules of origin is too stringent will have Mexico and Canada on the too-strict side of the argument and the U.S. defending itself alone.
After the first USMCA deputies meeting, Mexico, Canada and the U.S. issued a joint statement saying that they are scrutinizing the implementation of the prohibition on importing goods made with forced labor. They also discussed environmental law enforcement cooperation, and training planned this year for small businesses so they can access the treaty's benefits. All said "though there have been challenges, progress continues to be made under the Agreement."
Many companies may not have insight into where their raw materials come from, said Wiley lawyers while speaking on a webinar about preparing for the enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. But doing the best they can to eradicate any links to the Xinjiang province in China is needed to lower the risk that goods could be detained under suspicion of forced labor, given that imports with links to Xinjiang will be assumed to be made with forced labor, starting in June.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., joined by 14 Democrats on the committee, is asking that the Biden administration develop an action plan to improve the working conditions of Haitian migrant workers in the sugar industry in the Dominican Republic, including potentially banning the import of that sugar under the ban on goods made with forced labor.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said that he and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., talked Jan. 12 about how to move on a renewal for the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill. Neal, who spoke with International Trade Today in a hallway interview at the Capitol Jan. 13, said that he talked with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai about the legislation this week, as well. Both the GSP and MTB lapsed more than a year ago.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council should not be seen as a prelude to reentering talks for a comprehensive trade agreement, and she threw cold water on the idea of a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom as well.
The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee and that committee's chairman, as well as the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, urged the deputy U.S. trade representative to press Mexico and Canada on market access issues for the energy and agricultural sectors, and the senators also complained about barriers for the telecom, pharmaceutical and television industries in either Mexico or Canada. Deputy USTR Jayme White is meeting with Canadian and Mexican counterparts this week.
Agricultural and energy market access in Mexico are of concern to Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, as he talks about the need to enforce USMCA's provisions, but he dismissed Mexico's concern that the U.S. is not following the treaty's text as it lays out rules for imported automobiles and light trucks to enter the U.S. tariff-free.