Toasts not Tariffs, a coalition of 48 trade groups in the liquor and wine industries, restaurants and retailers, wrote to the commerce and agriculture secretaries and the U.S. trade representative to urge them to convince the European Union and the United Kingdom to lift 25% tariffs on U.S. whiskey exports. The April 12 letter did not mention that those tariffs were in response to 25% tariffs on steel exports from the EU and the U.K., and that lifting the tariffs on steel would end tariffs on whiskey.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he would join the resolution introduced last month by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, urging the resolution of trade negotiations with the United Kingdom (see 2103250040). “This is a very important trading relationship we've got to get settled right away,” Grassley said on a phone call with reporters April 13. Removing barriers for farmers must be a part of any U.K. free trade agreement, Grassley said. The only trade priority he would rank higher is ensuring China makes its promised purchases under phase one, he said.
Seventeen Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee, led by ranking member Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, told Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that they are still “deeply concerned” with various components of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's approach to taxing digital firms' overseas activities. In the April 8 letter, they asked Yellen for a briefing on the administration's goals. Without a clearer principle on how to allocate profits to countries where businesses provide services, they said, “other countries will continue to extract as much revenue as possible from the United States through digital services taxes or otherwise.” They also said they support the steps the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has taken to pressure countries to repeal their digital services taxes.
Thirty House members, from Florida, Georgia and Michigan, are asking the International Trade Commission to protect farmers in their districts from competition with Mexican imports. In the bipartisan letter, publicized by Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., on April 7, they wrote: “Seasonal cucumber and squash imports from Mexico continue to dramatically impact U.S. markets and threaten the future of domestic farm production of perishable produce. ... Market changes occur quickly and can devastate a grower’s season in a matter of days if imports increase and the resulting price decreases coincide with harvest.” The ITC is investigating whether imports of bell peppers, cucumbers, strawberries and squash are harming U.S. growers. It already ruled that blueberry imports do not harm domestic growers.
Four pro-trade House Democrats joined Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., recently in introducing a resolution asking the Biden administration to reopen negotiations in Geneva for an Environmental Goods Agreement at the World Trade Organization. DelBene led, joined by Reps. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif.; Don Beyer, D-Va.; Terri Sewell, D-Ala.; and Ron Kind, D-Wis.
Although many American liquor exports received a reprieve with the lifting of Boeing tariffs in Europe, bourbon and other American whiskeys continue to face a 25% punitive tariff in the European Union and the United Kingdom because of Section 232 tariffs on those countries' steel and aluminum exports. At the time the tariffs were imposed, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was majority leader, so the product choice was considered to create additional pressure on the administration to reverse the action.
A pair of Wisconsin congressmen re-sent a letter on Section 301 exclusions to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, arguing that it was unfair to let exclusions expire in cases where there was still no source of the good outside China. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said they didn't understand how the office could grant an exclusion because the good is only available from China and because the duties would cause severe economic harm to the importer, but then not renew the exclusion a year later, when the factors are unchanged. They publicized the letter in an April 2 press release. Tai has not said whether the office will offer more Section 301 exclusions, but has said that if there is an exclusion process, it will be transparent.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., reintroduced a bill that would prohibit the sale to China of technology and intellectual property that's sensitive for reasons of national security and hike taxes on multinational corporations' income earned in China to account for the lost value of stolen IP and technology. The bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and was introduced March 25.
More than 20 House Republicans, led by Rep. Lisa McCain, R-Mich., wrote to the president this week asking him to pursue a free trade deal with Taiwan. They said an FTA would open up opportunities for manufacturers, farmers and energy exporters. “By enacting a trade agreement with Taiwan, the United States would demonstrate to our Indo-Pacific allies that we are invested in their security and prosperity. While China continues to harass our partners through their territorial claims, a United States economic commitment to complement our military presence would pay significant dividends,” the 23 Republicans wrote March 22.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, joined by five other Republican senators -- Rick Scott of Florida, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, James Lankford of Oklahoma, and Mike Braun of Indiana -- introduced a resolution asking the administration to finish negotiations on a free trade deal with the United Kingdom. If the resolution were to pass the Senate, it would not be binding, but would give a sense of the likelihood that a free trade deal could be approved in that chamber.