Senators and witnesses called for the adoption of free trade agreements with Latin American countries to stave off Chinese influence in the region through trade, during a March 5 hearing on advancing American interests in the Western Hemisphere.
Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, and four other Democratic members in the House introduced resolutions March 6 that, if successful, would end the emergencies that President Donald Trump is relying on to hike tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods.
Three senators introduced a resolution that would terminate the emergency that the president declared on the northern border -- which, if successful, would terminate the 25% tariff on most Canadian goods and 10% tariff on energy that President Donald Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., speaking March 5 at the American Enterprise Institute about the path to pass a tax cuts extension and spending cuts bill, said that tariff revenue will help to pay down government debt, even if it's not part of the legislative package.
The House Committee on Homeland Security issued its oversight plan for the year, and only mentioned trade once, when it wrote that it plans to "review the Department’s efforts to better facilitate legitimate trade and travel with updates to trusted traveler programs and expansion of CBP Preclearance locations."
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., introduced the Prioritizing Offensive Agricultural Disputes and Enforcement Act, with the aim of stopping what he called unfair subsidies in India and China for their domestic rice farmers. He was joined on the bill by Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., John Boozman, R-Ark., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.
Senators and witnesses called for greater protection for shipping companies that are the victims of cargo theft, saying that CBP penalizes them unfairly, during a Feb. 27 hearing on the rise in cargo theft.
Bills were introduced this week in the House and Senate to establish pilot programs to assess technologies for enhancing and speeding up cargo inspections at land ports of entry. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, led S. 703, with four Democratic co-sponsors and six Republican co-sponsors.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., joined by Sens. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., introduced a renewal of a trade preferences program for Haiti this week.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Adrian Smith, R-Neb., and Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., introduced the Undertaking Negotiations on Investment and Trade for Economic Dynamism (UNITED) Act, which authorizes the administration to negotiate a comprehensive trade agreement with the U.K. in consultation with Congress.