Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee will join the Republican minority on the Senate Finance Committee, Republicans announced this week. Two of the Republicans who previously served on the committee chose not to run again in 2022, and one quit part-way through his term to become a university president.
Reps. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., and Dan Kildee, D-Mich., joined by two Republicans from sugar-growing states and one other Michigan Democrat, are calling for U.S. sugar policy reform, but only after major exporters end their government subsidies, which they say are unfair. They named Brazil, India, Thailand, Mexico and the EU as offenders. Their resolution puts the onus on the White House to suggest legislation on U.S. sugar policy once trading partners change their practices.
Many members are asking the Senate Finance Committee chairman about renewing trade preferences programs, he told International Trade Today. Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he recognizes the importance of renewing the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, but was evasive about whether he would support clean renewals, or would require that an extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance accompany the bills.
Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, asked the Biden administration to hike the tariff to 35% on Russian ferrosilicon that contains 75% silicon, the same rate as is applied to the other four categories of silicon and iron alloy coming from Russia. The senators said in their Jan. 31 letter that this category accounts for most Russian ferrosilicon exports to the U.S. The aim is to "replace Russian imports that finance the country’s illegal invasion of Ukraine."
Fourteen Republican senators, led by Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio, wrote to the treasury secretary and secretary of state as the Cabinet officials traveled to China to meet with President Xi Jinping.
Four Republicans and two Democrats reintroduced the American Beef Labeling Act in the Senate, a bill that would direct the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to develop a World Trade Organization-compliant way to reinstate mandatory country of origin labeling for beef.
Four Republican senators introduced a bill to strip China of Permanent Normal Trade Relations status, requiring the president annually to consider China's eligibility under the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. The bill would expand that amendment, adding human rights and trade abuses as factors making a country ineligible for most favored nation tariffs. The bill was introduced by Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; Rick Scott, R-Fla.; J.D. Vance, R-Ohio; and Ted Budd, R-N.C.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., in introductory remarks at an organizational meeting of the committee Jan. 31, said the Biden administration "has sadly ignored our foreign trade partners, shut off access to new markets for American goods, and allowed China to gain influence around the globe. U.S. exporters only get preferential access to fewer than 10 percent of the world’s customers -- it’s time to do more to sell American."
Nineteen House Republicans, led by Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin, introduced a non-binding resolution this week calling on the administration to negotiate a free trade agreement with Taiwan. The lawmakers also want the U.S. to recognize Taiwan as an independent country, and establish formal diplomatic relations.
Florida's two senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, reintroduced a bill that would allow producers of seasonal produce to more easily bring an antidumping or countervailing duty case against foreign competitors. Reps. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and Darren Soto, D-Fla., introduced a companion bill. The Republican senators are calling it the "Defending Domestic Produce Production Act." Florida growers have not been able to convince a majority of growers around the country to support a trade remedy action, so these bills are designed to get around that problem. The bills were first introduced in 2018.