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.
The top two lawmakers on the House Select Committee on China criticized Beijing’s decision last month to suspend imports of Japanese seafood, saying the trade restrictions are “unacceptable and must be reversed.” China suspended the imports in response to Japan's release of nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean stemming from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant incident following a tsunami (see 2308220022).
The House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee will hold a hearing on "Reforming the Generalized System of Preferences to Safeguard U.S. Supply Chains and Combat China" on Sept. 20 at 2 p.m. EDT. Witnesses have not yet been announced.
It's not realistic to believe Canada, Mexico and the U.S. would be ready to admit more members to the USMCA before their presidential contests in 2024 or Canada's parliamentary elections in 2025, panelists said at a program hosted by the Council of the Americas. But Juan Carlos Baker, Mexico's former chief negotiator for the NAFTA successor, said the six-year review in 2026 would be a perfect time to make accession a possibility.