No date has been scheduled yet for a vote on the China package championed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., but lengthy amendments from senators are continuing to flow in, many with trade implications.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., introduced a bill called the Manufacturing Abilities Determine Economies (MADE) in the Americas Act that would incentivize moving supply chains that are concentrated in Asia to either the U.S. or its allies in the Western Hemisphere. The two announced the bill in a press release May 19. The bill also would prioritize the establishment of free trade agreements in the Western Hemisphere. "Given the complexity of market forces, we are likely unable to bring all these manufacturing operations to the U.S., which is why this legislation would incentivize moving operations to our allies in the Western Hemisphere as a secondary priority," Kinzinger said. "It is my hope that these incentives would also help address the root causes of irregular immigration."

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, says there is the potential for a bipartisan consensus on a strategy to compete with China. Romney, who was speaking at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce program May 19, said the two parties are more united than they were two years ago, as they recognize China's threat to liberal democracies. He said that "China’s rise is the result really of their economic resources, and those are resources that are built in part through predatory practices, particularly subsidized or predatory pricing which allows them to put western businesses out of business...."

A Republican proposal for a highway bill requires customs brokers and other "covered entities" to verify that the hired motor carrier is registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, has appropriate insurance, and has not been determined unfit to operate by the FMCSA or a state. Brokers are covered "only to the extent that the customs broker is engaging in a movement under a customs bond or in a transaction involving customs business," according to the legislation. These provisions would create "a National Hiring Standard to clarify and standardize industry best practices for hiring safe carriers," according to summary of the bill. "This will ensure that shippers, brokers, and intermediaries have reliable and accurate information on which to base hiring decisions."

The Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0 (see 2104160037) could provide the new tools the administration needs to defend the U.S. from trade distortions caused by Chinese firms, Ohio's two senators wrote to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

The Endless Frontier Act, a massive bill working its way through the Senate that aims to improve the United States' ability to compete economically with China, also addresses a number of issues relevant to importers, including enforcement of the forced labor statute, seizure of counterfeits, and progress on the issues that led to the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods.

Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., and Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., are asking the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate an agreement with Canada on softwood lumber so countervailing duties can be dropped against Canadian imports. The U.S. and Canada used to have an agreement that limited Canadian exports when prices were low, and opened access to avoid price spikes like the one currently underway. In their letter, sent May 17 with 96 signatories, they said the countervailing duties on Canadian lumber have caused "unnecessary cost increases to industries that use softwood lumber, such as residential home construction. We now call upon you to represent American interests on this critical issue by pursuing a balanced agreement with Canada. We, as Members of Congress, stand ready to discuss this issue and potential solutions with you. We consider such a balanced agreement to be in the interest of the United States because it would provide predictability for lumber producers and homebuilders so they can continue to help the economy recover from the events of the past year."

House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., is questioning whether FDA's Office of Regulatory Affairs is using its funding effectively and fulfilling its duty of preventing the spread of food-borne illnesses. A May 13 letter notes that in fiscal year 2019, ORA's food funding was $732 million, about the same as the previous fiscal year, but visual exams of imported food products declined 25%, domestic inspections decreased 18% and the sampling of imported products fell 21%.

The Jones Act -- which requires all goods transported by water between U.S. ports to be carried on vessels made in and crewed by U.S. citizens, under U.S. ownership -- raises costs for Hawaiian, Alaskan and Puerto Rican consumers, its critics say, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., have reintroduced a repeal. The bill, announced May 14, also was introduced during the previous Congress and did not get a hearing.

Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., asked the U.S. trade representative to lift trade remedies on Canadian softwood lumber, because the cost of framing lumber has quintupled and lumber prices overall are up 300%. "In December of 2020, the average tariff was reduced to 9%. While a reduction in tariffs for some Canadian producers is a step in the right direction, the complete elimination of these tariffs is necessary to provide relief for rising lumber prices. American home buyers, not Canadian lumber producers, are the ones who end up paying the cost of these trade restrictions," they wrote May 12. The USTR told Senate Finance Committee members on May 12 that there are good reasons for the countervailing duties, and an agreement that would allow for more Canadian imports to avoid these kinds of price surges is not one the Canadians have expressed interest in so far.