The House of Representatives last week approved a proposal that would require the administration to write a report to help Congress better understand U.S. reliance on Chinese-made ocean shipping containers, a situation highlighted by supply chain constraints that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former President Donald Trump, meeting with Republicans in Congress June 13, told them he would consider eliminating the income tax and replacing it with tariff revenue if he is reelected. While Trump has floated putting a 10% tariff on all imports, and a 60% tariff on Chinese imports, but that would not raise enough revenue to replace the income tax.
The House Appropriations Committee passed a bill on a party-line vote to fund the DHS for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The bill includes a provision that requires CBP to ban the import of aerosol-dispensing unmanned aircraft produced or manufactured in a foreign adversary country, such as China.
House Foreign Affairs Committee member Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., during a hearing on competition with China in the Western Hemisphere, argued that the shortages experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic show that businesses should move supply chains to the Western Hemisphere.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told a think tank audience that the U.S. needs to negotiate and Congress needs to ratify new broad trade agreements, so that the U.S. can develop long-term sources of processed minerals needed for electrification.
Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., has been appointed to fill a vacancy on the House Select Committee on China, the panel announced last week. Cline, a former prosecutor, said he favors “tough policies that tactically confront the [Chinese Communist Party] at home and abroad and safeguard our nation’s interests.” Former Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Mich., who used to chair the committee, created an opening on the panel by leaving Congress in April (see 2403250066).
Four House Republicans, including the Homeland Security Committee chairman, have introduced a bill to prohibit DHS from buying batteries from Contemporary Amperex Technology Company (CATL), BYD Company, Envision Energy, EVE Energy Company, Gotion High Tech Company and Hithium Energy Storage Technology. The prohibition would begin Oct. 1, 2027, which is the same date that the Pentagon prohibition begins. The Defense Department prohibition was passed in the most recent Defense Authorization bill.
A half-dozen Democratic senators, led by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, along with Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and a half-dozen Democrats in the House told the International Trade Commission that they support the antidumping and countervailing duty petitions filed in April (see 2404240071) targeting solar panel manufacturers in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on renewing and revitalizing the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, the African Growth and Opportunity Act and other trade preference programs on June 5 at 10 a.m.
A bipartisan bill to amend the Lacey Act was introduced in the House of Representatives, and it would add a ban on import and export of "prohibited primate species." The bill's text was published this week. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Joe Neguse, D-Colo., were the original sponsors; 15 other co-sponsors have joined the bill since its introduction.