The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is beginning a new Section 301 investigation on alleged unfair practices in China’s maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, the agency said in a news release April 17.
President Joe Biden on April 17 called for a “tripling” of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum, urging the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to “consider” the increase from the current average 7.5% rate in its ongoing review of Section 301 tariffs.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai testified April 16 before the House Ways and Means Committee regarding the Biden administration’s trade policy agenda for 2024. She expressed support for upcoming legislation to renew the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and to close the de minimis imports loophole (see 2404160029), and she detailed some of the administration’s values and aims for the upcoming year. “Our approach is one that addresses and advances the interests of all parts of our economy and does not pit Americans against Americans,” she said.
Congress should approve tougher sanctions and import restrictions to stem the deadly and illegal flow of fentanyl into the U.S., the House Select Committee on China said in a new report April 16.
Ahead of congressional hearings featuring U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s senior vice president said on an April 15 press call that his organization is concerned about the “laissez faire” approach he said the Biden administration has been taking in negotiating against foreign trade barriers and enforcing existing U.S. trade agreements.
The Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America told President Joe Biden that removing tariffs on shoes doesn't require public policy reviews but "just the stroke of your pen to help lower shoe prices."
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, wrote to President Joe Biden saying that he should "take bold, aggressive action and to permanently ban" electric vehicles "produced by Chinese companies or whatever subsidiaries they establish to conceal their origins."
A recent bill from House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, would change the drawback statute so that items that have a Harmonized Tariff Schedule description beginning with "other" no longer would be ineligible for unused substitution drawback, drawback expert Dave Corn said.
A new bill from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's top Republican and a Democratic member would renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade preference program for 16 years, offer more flexibility on country eligibility reviews, and soften the high-income graduation rules.
Five members of House Ways and Means Committee and the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific introduced a bill that would set up an ‘‘Indo-Pacific Trade Strategy Commission’’ to make recommendations to Congress on a comprehensive trade policy in the region, and direct the International Trade Commission to produce a report on how the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade agreement and China's Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership multilateral free trade agreement affect U.S. exports and growth opportunities in the Indo-Pacific. The report also would address differences between the TPP successor, RCEP, and the USMCA, and the impact of Asian regional trade agreements on U.S. supply chain resiliency, and how they affect China's role in key global supply chains.