A bipartisan bill was introduced in the House to create an Office of Supply Chain Resiliency and Crisis Response in the Commerce Department, with the goal of partnering with industry, unions, and state and local governments on supply chain vulnerabilities, and ways to plan for supply chain shocks. It would make recommendations on how to expand "the sourcing of critical goods and services, equipment, and technology from allies or key partners of the United States," its writers said.

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., one of the original advocates for narrowing the authority of the executive branch to impose national security tariffs or quotas, has once again introduced a bipartisan bill to reform the legislation that delegated that authority. Toomey, joined by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., six other Democrats and 10 other Republicans, said the prior administrations abused Section 232 tariffs "to protect favored industries, which has resulted in economic disruption, damage to U.S. relationships with our allies, and harmful retaliatory tariffs on American farmers and manufacturers."

When the leaders of the Congressional Steel Caucus, members of Congress who advocate for steelmakers, start talking about how to wind down Section 232 tariffs on European steel, you know that the 25% tariff on steel from the European Union is unlikely to continue.

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., and 10 other House Republicans introduced a bill Sept. 28 that requires the administration to impose sanctions on foreign buyers of rare earth minerals -- but the bill explicitly exempts sanctions on the import of those minerals into the U.S. “The Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan has given the Taliban control of one of the largest deposits of rare earth minerals in the world, which jeopardizes our national security,” Steube said. “Banning the Taliban and China from profiting off of rare earth minerals is commonsense." He said the bill is designed to prevent Chinese firms from buying rare earths and then processing them and selling them to U.S. buyers.

Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., introduced a bill that is a companion to a Senate bill (see 2108130050) that would impose a 10 cents-per-pound excise tax on virgin plastic resin produced domestically or imported. The tax would increase to 15 cents per pound in 2023 and 20 cents in 2024. For imported items, if the importer did not estimate how much virgin plastic was contained in single-use plastic goods, the tariff would be 10% of the value of the item. However, the U.S. government could estimate a lower amount based on an estimate of resin in the predominant method of production of the item.

Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, said he's had no consultation with staff or principals from the Commerce Committee or the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on how they would like to change their approach on tariffs on European steel and aluminum. The European Union and the U.S. have been negotiating over lifting 25% tariffs on steel and 10% tariffs on aluminum imposed during the Trump presidency, ostensibly to protect national security. If the U.S. and the EU do not reach an agreement, retaliatory tariffs on spirits exports are scheduled to double, to 50%. "We’d love to have this conversation with the administration on how you’d tackle 232s and 301s," he said, particularly in a time when supply chains are strained and inflation is up. But Brady declined to say during a call with reporters on Sept. 29 whether his concerns about the drag on the economy from supply chain challenges and inflation mean that he would argue to lift the tariffs on the EU.

The House voted to provide more time for a Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking report on fentanyl and other synthetic opioid trafficking, giving the commission 390 days rather than 270 days to produce its first report on the costs and benefits of approaches to halting the trafficking of these drugs from China, Mexico, India or other countries of concern. The bill passed the House 410-14 on Sept. 28. Reps. David Trone, D-Md., and Fred Upton, R-Mich., introduced the bill in August.

Finance Committee member Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, bemoaned the fact that the House did not vote on a short-term extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance already passed by the Senate, and told his committee's chairman and top Republican that he would like to be part of bipartisan negotiations to get TAA moving, paired with other trade priorities. Portman, in a letter Sept. 28, also said he worries that passing TAA as part of the Democratic-only soft infrastructure package means the broader trade agenda will be neglected. "As policymakers, I believe we can take steps to support American manufacturing and avoid the root causes for TAA," he said, and argued that renewing the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill and Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, and strengthening antidumping and countervailing duty laws would help.

A bill that would require foreign sellers on e-commerce platforms to accept personal jurisdiction in the U.S. and allow themselves to be served in a lawsuit passed in the House Judiciary Committee on Sept. 29. The SHOP SAFE ACT also requires e-commerce platforms to confirm that their sellers provide legitimate contact information. Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., as he introduced the bill, said, "The bill also encourages platforms to monitor and screen for known indicia of counterfeiting and to keep repeat infringers from reappearing on their platforms. These measures assess a platform’s actions from a reasonableness standard, taking into account that different-sized platforms will have different resources and capabilities to devote to these efforts."

Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Trade Subcommittee chairman and ranking Republican met with World Trade Organization Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala when she was in town last week. Brady and Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., issued a statement that said, "We were delighted to meet with Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at this critical juncture in the history of the World Trade Organization. As we discussed today, our commitment to the success of the WTO is unwavering. However, the United States has long insisted that reform is needed at the WTO, and bipartisan support in Congress for WTO reform is stronger than ever." Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., chairman of the trade subcommittee, said, “It was an honor to lead a bipartisan roundtable discussion with Director-General Ngozi where members shared their support for the WTO and relayed their priorities to Dr. Ngozi directly. I, along with several of my colleagues, emphasized the importance of a WTO TRIPS waiver on COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and tests as well as the critical role that the WTO has to play in protecting the climate. I’m also glad we were able to discuss illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and was encouraged by Dr. Ngozi’s comments about potential progress in dealing with these horrific and destructive practices.”