Sens. Ted Budd, R-N.C., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., have sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai urging them to take action to “immediately and meaningfully limit the volume of Mexican steel concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) being imported into the United States.”
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China on Feb. 22 urged the Volkswagen Group to improve its compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act following a report that CBP seized thousands of the company’s Audi, Bentley and Porsche cars at U.S. ports for illegally containing parts made with forced labor in Xinjiang, China (see 2402150026).
Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, announced Feb. 21 that he has introduced legislation to prohibit "dangerous" fresh beef imports from Paraguay.
A group of 12 members of the House Ways and Means Committee has urged the Biden administration to investigate allegations that at least six Chinese fishing companies that supply U.S. markets employ Uyghur forced labor.
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a legislative hearing Feb. 15 to advance several pending measures, including a bill that would add Chinese drone company Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI) to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Covered list, which would prohibit DJI technology from operating on U.S. communications infrastructure.
A bipartisan group of 11 House members urged the Biden administration on Feb. 16 to impose Global Magnitsky Act sanctions on seven Chinese companies for allegedly using Uyghur forced labor to provide seafood to U.S. markets.
A climate policy adviser to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat and lead advocate for a domestic carbon tax paired with a carbon border tax, said he thinks the expiration of Trump tax credits in 2025 could create a window to pass some sort of carbon border adjustment tax, because Congress will be seeking revenue raisers to be able to continue the tax cuts.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., chairman of the House Select Committee on China, announced Feb. 10 that he won't run for re-election this year. Gallagher said it is time for him to return to private life after serving four terms in the House. As the committee's top Republican, Gallagher led probes on a range of China trade issues, including a report in December that called on the U.S. to impose stronger export controls against China (see 2312120050) and revoke the country's permanent normal trade relations status (see 2312120004).
A half-dozen Democrats asked the USDA to certify that Mexican avocado orchards exporting to the U.S. are not on illegally deforested land. Their letter, which they publicized on Super Bowl Sunday, peak avocado consumption time, said they read an article in The New York Times that showed avocado growing in Michoacan and Jalisco "has had a catastrophic impact on the environment and local communities.
For Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., the future of U.S. trade policy is to make climate a trade policy priority, work with global allies to set digital trade standards and deepen the U.S. trading relationship with the global south.