House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on CNBC Thursday the House won't approve a continuing resolution from the Senate, in part because it doesn’t address border security. “I think we could work through the weekend and I think we could figure this out,” he said. McCarthy held out hope the government won’t close at midnight Saturday. “We’re going to get this done,” he said. He acknowledged that reaching an agreement won’t be easy. “I’ve got challenges [in] our conference,” he said: “I’ve got members who will not vote to have a stopgap measure to continue to fund the government. I’ve got members who say they’ll never vote for an omnibus [bill]. Well, if you won’t do any of that, it’s hard to govern.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., filed cloture Sept. 28 on the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act (H.R. 3935), the shell bill for the chamber's continuing resolution that would avert a federal government shutdown and extend appropriations until Nov 17. The Senate voted 76-22 earlier that day on a motion to proceed to the CR.
A final rule that took effect in early 2022, ending bovine spongiform encephalopathy-related import restrictions for live sheep and goats and most sheep and goat products is the target of a bill introduced by five Republican senators from Western states. Sen. John Barasso, R-Wyo., tried to stop this rule before, in January 2022 (see 2201130006). USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said that the restrictions were put in place before "extensive research” showed that sheep and goats “pose a minimal risk of spreading BSE” (see 2112020022).
The Reinforcing American-Made Products Act, which passed the Senate by unanimous consent in 2021, has been reintroduced by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and independent Sen. Angus King, who caucuses with the Democrats.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., introduced a bill that would hike the tariff on imported shrimp from India from zero percent to 10% in 2024, 20% in 2025, and 40% in 2026, a move he said is justified by the subsidies received by Indian shrimp farmers. About 40% of U.S. imports of shrimp are from India, the Sept. 28 news release said.
House Select Committee on China Chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher, House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith and Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers are telling Ford that pausing its partnership with the Chinese electric vehicle battery maker CATL doesn't get them off the hook to answer their questions about the technology licensing deal it had with the company.
The Generalized System of Preferences benefits program has been gone for nearly three years, but two members of the House of Representatives want tires removed from the product list when the trade program returns.
DHS said it will respond to a Sept. 19 letter sent by Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis. -- which asked the agency to determine whether a list of 25 entities should be added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List (see 2309200009) -- through “official channels.” The agency “will continue to respond appropriately to Congressional oversight,” the spokesperson said in a Sept. 21 email response to International Trade Today. When it receives suggestions for additions to the UFLPA List, the person said, DHS’ Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force “considers the source’s methodology, prior publications, degree of familiarity and experience with international labor standards” and “its reputation for accuracy and objectivity,” among other factors.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, introduced the HELP Extension Act of 2023 to renew trade preference programs for Haiti ahead of its September 2025 expiration.
The top Republican on the House Select Committee on China asked the Biden administration to determine whether 13 Chinese government officials should be subject to sanctions and 25 entities should be added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List for their ties to human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Last month, a bipartisan proposal in the House of Representatives called for Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum to be dropped unless Congress approved them within 75 days of the bill's enactment, and also restricted presidents' ability to hike tariffs under the guise of national security going forward.