Former Sen. Chris Dodd, special presidential adviser for the Americas, said that the administration welcomes the Americas Act (see 2403060033), a bill that proposes setting country-by-country de minimis levels, and instructs the administration to reconsider U.S. tariffs "with the focus on the principle of reciprocity" for most favored nation rates and to open a dialogue with Mexico and Canada on allowing Costa Rica and Uruguay to join USMCA. It also would exclude Chinese and Russian shippers from de minimis eligibility, allow Ecuador and Uruguay to use Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act tariff benefits for certain goods, "with the goal of an eventual full-scale FTA with Uruguay and Ecuador," and asks the administration to make it so goods across Western hemisphere free trade agreements could cumulate among those agreements -- so Costa Rican content could be added to Colombian and Mexican content, for instance.
Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., said that despite Democratic opposition in the House Ways and Means Committee to a package of bills renewing and altering the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, he expects there will be enough support for the bill to pass under suspension of the rules, which requires two-thirds of the House. Most bills this year have passed under suspension of the rules, rather than with a rule fashioned by the very narrow Republican majority. Smith said GSP works well to get its beneficiary countries to treat U.S. exports more favorably.
A bipartisan bill that directs the Energy Department to support development and adoption of digital identification systems for batteries and components was introduced in the House this week. The adoption would be voluntary.
The Federal Maritime Commission has been encouraging carriers to have a better relationship and more transparency with shippers, FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei said during a hearing held by the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on April 30. Maffei said that this issue stems from the lack of transparency surrounding the Red Sea-related surcharges imposed by carriers due to Houthi attacks on commercial ships (see 2401290052).
Amid a four-year review of Section 301 tariffs that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will end soon (see 2404170074), Democratic senators led by Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio called on President Joe Biden to maintain the tariffs on China. In a short May 2 letter, they said the country continues to disrupt global supply chains and distort markets across such sectors as steel, solar technology and electric vehicles.
A bill that would ban the import of Russian uranium 90 days from enactment passed the Senate by unanimous consent on April 30. The Prohibiting Russian Uranium Act had passed the House in December (see 2312120008).
A bipartisan bill led by a House Ways and Means Committee member would allow warehouses and brands located in foreign trade zones to send goods that were imported into the zones to consumers and have those packages qualify for de minimis treatment.
A bipartisan group of senators is supporting trade remedy petitions filed by the U.S. Aluminum Extruders Coalition, which seek antidumping and countervailing duty measures on aluminum extrusion imports from 14 countries, it told the commerce secretary.
Although all members of the House Ways and Means Committee supported a bill renewing the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, the bill proceeded to the House floor on a split bipartisan vote of 17-24 as Democrats unsuccessfully called to include an extension of the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers program, which lapsed in 2022.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wants CBP to investigate the role of slave labor in goods being sold over retail apps Temu and Shein, he said in an April 16 letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Rubio asked that CBP investigate the exporters and, if necessary, add them to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act’s Entity List, which keeps track of companies that sell merchandise produced with slave labor. Both companies have abused the de minimis provision to get goods tainted by forced labor into the U.S., the senator said.