The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that since Turkey agreed to remove its digital services taxes before the international tax agreement takes effect, "the United States will terminate the currently-suspended additional duties on goods of Turkey that had been adopted in the DST Section 301 investigation." The goods that could have been targeted with additional 25% tariffs were in 32 subheadings, and there was more than $300 million worth of the products imported from Turkey in 2019 (see 2106020047).
Plans to increase a tax credit for electric vehicles containing a U.S.-made battery if the car was assembled in a U.S., union-represented plant is a source of worry for Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in French Nov. 18 at a news conference after the North American Leaders' Summit, according to a story from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. "This would be quite a problem for vehicle production in Canada," he said. "We stressed this with the Americans throughout our conversations. They've heard us loud and clear." The provisions are part of the Build Back Better bill that passed the House the following day on Nov. 19.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Deputy USTR Sarah Bianchi stressed the importance of rapidly resolving trade concerns when they arise through the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, and talked about the president's vision for a new economic framework in the Indo-Pacific when they talked with Korea's trade minister, Yeo Han-koo. They agreed to communicate better to support trade facilitation, and to deal with supply chain challenges, emerging technologies and digital trade. According to the U.S. summary of the visit, Tai talked about the challenge posed by market-distorting excess capacity in steel and aluminum. According to the Korea Herald, quoting the Korean trade ministry, Korea asked for the chance to change the tariff rate quotas it earlier agreed to on steel. "We once again delivered our stance and concerns regarding the Section 232 rules, and demanded that the two sides begin negotiations at an early date," the ministry said in a statement. Tai and Yeo also heard from industry representatives on supply chain resiliency and how to foster more sustainable trade.
The INFORM Consumers Act passed out of the House Commerce Committee this week (see 2111050021). The bill aims to crack down on sellers of counterfeit goods and make it harder for shoplifting rings to sell the stolen goods online. E-commerce platforms would need to find out more information about their sellers, and there would have to be a way to submit complaints by consumers to sellers with a certain volume of sales. The Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade hailed the vote on Nov. 17, saying, “We urge the full House to vote on this important bipartisan bill as soon as possible," through the nonprofit's Director General Jeffrey Hardy. Hardy said INFORM Consumers "has unified retailers, consumer groups, leading online marketplaces, small online sellers, manufacturers and all those serious about stopping the sale of counterfeit and stolen goods online.”
The environmental and social spending bill that passed the House of Representatives includes $5 billion for "manufacturing supply chain resilience," for the Commerce Department. Commerce may spend the money on mapping and monitoring supply chains, supporting the establishment of voluntary standards and best practices, and "identifying, accelerating, promoting, demonstrating and deploying technological advances for manufacturing supply chains" and providing grants, loans or loan guarantees" to maintain and improve manufacturing supply chain resiliency." The bill also provides $600 million in grants for supply chain resilience, reduction in port congestion and the development of offshore wind. That money will be distributed by the Maritime Administration. Although the Build Back Better bill gives an additional $2 million to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for implementing the Seafood Import Monitoring Program, it does not authorize NOAA to expand SIMP to apply to all seafood products, a congressional staffer told International Trade Today. Originally, that money was dedicated to such an expansion.
The White House, in a blog post that noted some wins for easing port congestion, said Congress should provide the Federal Maritime Commission with "an updated toolbox to protect exporters, importers, and consumers from unfair practices." It said that the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, a bipartisan bill introduced in the House in August (see 2108100011), "includes good first steps towards the type of longer-term reform to shipping laws that would strengthen America’s global competitiveness."
Sen. Marco Rubio's attempt to get the Senate version of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act appended to the National Defense Authorization Act was rejected by the Armed Services Committee chairman. But the House and Senate will likely try to get on the same page on how to change the burden of proof for forced labor content in Xinjiang products through a separate conference committee dealing with the Senate's China package and House efforts to address China.
At a hearing on supply chain challenges, the committee chairman described deregulation and disinvestment as two root causes, panelists cited overregulation and labor shortages, and there was intense disagreement between the parties on whether the surge in demand for imports was the result of foolish policy or wise economic support for households during the pandemic.
The China package passed by the Senate -- which includes instructions to reopen Section 301 tariff exclusion applications, and a renewal of both the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill -- will go to a conference committee to reconcile the Senate bill with various pieces of House legislation, one of which changes the burden of proof on goods from Xinjiang. None of the House bills touches on tariffs, and none offers funding for chipmakers, a centerpiece of the Senate bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. had earlier planned to attach the China package to the must-past National Defense Authorization Act, but after Republican opposition, they decided this was a better way to get the House-Senate talks going.
The Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre says its analysis found there's more risk that businesses used forced labor during the pandemic, both in sectors that experienced demand spikes, such as protective gear like masks, and in the garment sector, where orders were canceled. "The pandemic made it more difficult for businesses to prevent forced labour in their supply chains, but some of the early response [was] likely to have exacerbated vulnerability, for example by cancelling orders," the center said in a report released Nov. 17.