Although President Joe Biden criticized the Trump administration tariffs on Chinese imports during his campaign, and although his treasury secretary repeatedly said they contribute to inflation and some of them are harmful, trade lobbyists for UPS and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the tariffs are largely here to stay.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who is retiring from Congress at year's end, told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies that he was disappointed there were no trade items in the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science (CHIPS) Act. "But I’m ready to negotiate a grand bargain on trade in this lame-duck session," he said in a video address Oct. 17. Portman was scheduled to participate in a roundtable of former U.S. trade representatives but was traveling overseas on an official congressional trip.
The Department of Labor is requesting comments to inform development of the government’s 2014 edition of the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor and possible updates to the List of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor, as needed, DOL said Oct. 4. DOL is requesting commenters provide information to its Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking by Dec. 16. Further, DOL also seeks comments to inform the next edition of the Worst Forms of Child Labor report, an annual review that fulfills a statutory mandate tasking the labor secretary with reporting findings with regard to Generalized System of Preferences countries’ implementation of international commitments to eliminate the “worst forms of child labor,” DOL said.
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More than a dozen amendments involving trade have been proposed for the National Defense Authorization Act, a bill the Senate passes every year, and is expected to take up in a lame-duck session after the November election.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative wants Congress to bring back the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, it announced Sept. 29, and it wants Congress to consider designating countries in the Pacific Islands Forum that are developing countries as a regional association.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., threw cold water on a proposal to refund tariffs that should have been waived through the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, as importers continue to wait for the program's reauthorization. All tariffs will start the refund process once the bill becomes law, but Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., says the best chance of that is in December (see 2209200068).
The American Apparel and Footwear Association said it wants Congress to pass a bill that would refund tariffs paid for goods eligible for the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program that entered in 2021 and through the end of July this year, though without renewing the program..
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.