Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., and Rep. Troy Balderson, R-Ohio, introduced a bill that would require the Commerce Department to set up a one-year Resilient Manufacturing Task Force to identify critical vulnerabilities in the supply chains of essential products, with a particular focus on manufacturing vulnerabilities that have been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. The task force would also be required to develop mitigation plans for those vulnerabilities.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, put a hold on the commerce secretary nominee over the future of restrictions on Huawei. Gina Raimondo, in written responses to Senate Finance Committee members' questions, said, “I currently have no reason to believe that entities on those lists [the Entity List and the Military End User List] should not be there. If confirmed, I look forward to a briefing on these entities and others of concern.” That was not definitive enough for Cruz, who tweeted Feb. 4 he would lift the hold when the Biden administration “commits” to keeping Huawei on the Entity List. Cruz does not have the power to prevent the Senate from bringing the nomination for a vote, but he could filibuster if there are not at least 60 votes to cut off debate. Most Finance Committee Republicans voted to advance her nomination, so it's quite possible a filibuster could be avoided. Raimondo's nomination is not expected to advance before or during the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced the U.S.-Cuba Trade Act of 2021 to establish normal trade relations. “Our nation’s embargo on Cuba is an artifact from the 1960s. To continue this outdated, harmful policy of isolation would be a failure of American leadership,” he said in a Feb. 5 press release. The U.S.-Cuba Trade Act of 2021 would repeal the Helms-Burton Act and the Cuban Democracy Act, and other provisions that affect trade, investment and travel with Cuba. Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., are cosponsors of the bill. Members of Congress have been introducing bills to lift the embargo for more than 10 years.

The Congressional Steel Caucus, co-led by Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa., an early congressional endorser of Joe Biden, is asking the new administration to retain tariffs and quotas on imported steel that were imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. They said imports have fallen by 8% as a result of the protection. “This remedy has benefited the industry,” the Feb. 1 letter said. “[I]t is important that these tariffs and quotas remain in place to ensure the industry can continue its road to recovery.” The letter was signed by 51 House members, Republicans and Democrats, and across the ideological spectrum within each party.

Alejandro Mayorkas was confirmed by the Senate to be Department of Homeland Security secretary, on a 56-43 vote. All Democrats and independents who caucus with Democrats voted for confirmation, as did six Republicans.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he doesn't know when Katherine Tai, the U.S. trade representative nominee, might get a hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee. He told reporters on a press call Feb. 2 that it's likely that Finance will question the Health and Human Services secretary nominee ahead of Tai. He also said he doesn't know how the impeachment trial for Donald Trump could affect the timing. Grassley said he supports President Joe Biden's approach of trying to get Europe, other countries in North America, South Korea and Japan “on the same wavelength with regard to China,” and when he has the opportunity to talk to Tai, he'll be asking about “how long they're going to wait to follow up on phase two” of trade talks with China. He said he doesn't expect the issue of Section 301 exclusions to be on his list of topics to bring up. “I just haven’t had a lot of contact in the last six months with these business interests [with expired exclusions], maybe my staff has,” he said.

Trade groups representing importers, exporters and companies involved in trade logistics are asking Congress to ask the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to retroactively extend Section 301 exclusions for products whose exclusions expired last year, automatically extend exclusion for pandemic response goods, and reinstate the exclusions process. The 166 groups, which make up the Americans for Free Trade coalition, sent a letter to Congress Jan. 29 with the requests.

The American Apparel and Footwear Association, the Accessories Council, the Travel Goods Association and the Council of Fashion Designers of America are asking Congress to change drawback laws so that companies can file for duty drawback on merchandise that is donated to charities. “Currently, duty drawback, or recouping duties already paid, is only available to companies if they destroy the merchandise, the last thing we need as both companies and families struggle. Creating such a provision would be a win-win, enabling companies to unlock much needed funds currently trapped in the surplus inventory created by the crisis, while at the same time helping Americans negatively impacted by the [COVID-19] pandemic with donations of clothes and shoes they need for themselves and their families,” they wrote in a letter to Congress Feb. 1.

The Senate voted 55-42 Jan. 28 to invoke cloture on homeland security secretary nominee Alejandro Mayorkas, setting up a Feb. 1 confirmation vote. Six Republicans voted to move forward on Mayorkas, including the Homeland Security Committee's incoming lead Republican, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio. The chamber also set a Feb. 2 vote to confirm transportation secretary nominee Pete Buttigieg, which he’s likely to easily clear. The Senate Commerce Committee recently advanced Buttigieg 21-3.

Thousands of restaurants nationwide urged congressional leaders Jan. 28 to remove wines, cheeses, olive oil and other food products imported from Europe from the tariff list designed to punish the European Union for aircraft subsidies to Airbus. “Restaurants, bars, and shops, the social heart of our local communities, cannot afford 25 percent tariffs on European food and drink products and cannot recover with them in place. Our industry needs the tariffs to end immediately,” their Jan. 28 letter said. “As the crisis facing our industry deepens, the urgency of tariff relief grows. Our formula for survival through this economic crisis is simple: for each customer, we need to maximize sales of profit drivers like wine by the glass, and minimize the cost of inputs like cheese, olive oil, meat, and other food.”