Reps. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., and Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., along with two other Republicans and one Democrat, recently introduced a bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act to require that all manufacturers, distributors, importers and merchants involved with pill presses only import, carry, or sell machines with serial numbers affixed to them.
The leading Democrat in efforts to restrict de minimis in the House of Representatives, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore, has tried to restrict de minimis eligibility since the beginning of 2022, and has said that getting a bill passed is how he'd like to end his career in Congress (see 2402150060).
Rubio introduced a bill that would change the country of origin for goods so that a company owned by or based in China or any other "foreign adversary" would assign the adversary country of origin to those companies' goods, no matter where the goods were manufactured. The bill is silent on whether that would also apply to U.S.-manufactured goods by Chinese companies, such as Volvo cars.
More than 25 agriculture groups asked the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees' leaders this week to renew the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program.
A bill that would only allow goods made in Palestinian-administered parts of the West Bank to be labeled as originating in the West Bank, and would require that goods made in Israeli settlements to be labeled as Israeli passed the House of Representatives 231-189 late Sept. 18.
Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., along with two other Republicans and another Democrat, recently reintroduced the Stop Importation and Manufacturing of Synthetic Analogues (SIMSA) Act.
Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., introduced a bill to ban the import of Russian palladium and platinum after a mine in his state said that 700 miners would lose their jobs because "responsible and sustainable mining and metals processing [in Montana] is much, much more expensive than that of our competitors in Russia and other areas."
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., recently introduced The Market Economy Sourcing Act, which would impose restrictions on goods covered by free trade agreement benefits, so that nonqualifying content also would be scrutinized.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced a bill that wouldn't allow tariffs to be hiked under Section 232, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Section 301 or any other customs and trade laws or trade agreements unless Congress passes that "new tax into law."
A bill that would effectively overrule the Treasury Department's implementation of the foreign entity of concern restrictions for battery components and critical minerals in electric vehicle tax credits passed the House of Representatives Sept. 12 by a vote of 217-192.