The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has warmly endorsed Katherine Tai to be U.S. trade representative. In a letter sent Feb. 23, Executive Vice President Myron Brilliant said her experience at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and as chief trade counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee, is invaluable. “She combines policy acumen, negotiating experience, and political savvy,” he wrote. “While one important aspect of USTR’s mission is to address unfair trading practices, the previous Administration’s dramatic expansion in the application of tariffs contributed directly to a manufacturing and agriculture recession well in advance of the [COVID-19] pandemic, and this experience illustrates the perils of an excessive reliance on tariffs. The next USTR must avoid the use of tariffs as a blunt instrument, and must avoid inaction on trade agreements as well,” he said, adding that Tai understands that.
The Coalition for GSP, which argues for renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, recently published an estimate that importers saved $879 million utilizing the GSP program in 2020. That covered $17 billion in imports. The group said that imports and savings were down from 2019 due to participating country terminations and the COVID-19 pandemic.
National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones President Erik Autor told two think tank scholars Feb. 11 that the organization's goal is to get Congress and other policymakers to see how the FTZ program can fit in the broader trade policy agenda. The trade group was disappointed that the USMCA technical fixes returned to the NAFTA rules of origin approach for FTZs, and wants to ensure that language is not repeated in any future free trade agreements, he said during his group's virtual summit. NAFTZ believes that allowing goods constructed in FTZs to receive USMCA benefits, if they meet the rules of origin, supports the new administration's Made in America ethos.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., told an online audience Feb. 9 during a Washington International Trade Association conference that the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program will be restored this year, and that the benefits will be retroactive. He added, “I think that for all of its past successes, and I have been a supporter, it needs to be updated to keep us in line with progress as it relates to trade policy.”
Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, said the House Advisory Group on Negotiations talked about moving forward with negotiating a United Kingdom trade deal, World Trade Organization reforms, and renewing the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill. The HAGON includes Brady, Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., and three other Ways and Means members.
The top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee said he “would really like to see” the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill move quickly, but the time and attention needed to pass COVID-19 relief measures may get in the way. “I don’t know how much oxygen the COVID stimulus bill will suck up in Congress,” Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said Jan. 28.
In a week, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, will become the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, but he will retain a seat on the Finance Committee, and he said he'll still be working on trade issues in 2021. Grassley said that it would “be a lot easier” to pass legislation renewing the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill than to renew the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, since Democrats have proposed numerous changes to GSP that would make eligibility more difficult for developing countries. “But I believe because the Democrats have tied them together, we won’t get it done until we get some compromise done with them on Generalized [System of] Preferences,” he told International Trade Today during a conference call with reporters Jan. 14.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said further decoupling from China is certain if China doesn't do more to step up on industrial subsidies, intellectual property rights protection, trade secret theft and other U.S. companies' priorities. Myron Brilliant, head of international affairs for the Chamber, told reporters on a Jan. 13 call that there's not much political space for incoming President Joe Biden to roll back tariffs, even as his campaign was critical of the economic consequences of the trade war.
A Republican congresswoman who has been the biggest critic of the Section 232 exclusion process told National Foreign Trade Council webinar listeners that, “I’m hoping for the best under this administration. We’ve suffered a lot under [Section] 232 and 301.” Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., added that “I can’t wait to see it start unraveling.” Walorski, who claimed Jan. 12 that “we were kind of in this battle” with President Donald Trump over the broadness of the China tariffs, voted against certifying Biden's Electoral College victory last week.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, introduced a bill Jan. 6 that would bar countries that aren't following international environmental obligations or enforcing their environmental laws from participating in the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program. Currently, GSP is not in effect. In the previous Congress, Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., introduced a bill (see 2012080049) that included this plank, as well as eligibility predicated on whether the country is making continual progress toward establishing “the rule of law, political pluralism, the right to due process, a fair trial and equal protection under the law,” and whether those countries are working to “reduce poverty, increase the availability of health care and educational opportunities,” and combat corruption. All legislation introduced last year has to be reintroduced in the new Congress to be considered.