China's lack of worker rights, weak environmental standards "and anticompetitive subsidies are the hallmarks of China’s artificial comparative advantage. It is an advantage that puts others out of business and violates any notion of fair competition," the annual trade policy agenda from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said, and the administration is looking to advance fair competition "through all available avenues," including coordinating with other countries, using existing trade agreements, or new tools, it said.
Meetings between Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jayme White and Ecuador's trade minister, Julio Jose Prado, focused on the U.S. desire for Ecuador to improve its agricultural import licensing system, and Ecuador's concern that the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program has lapsed. A joint statement from the two countries released Feb. 18 said they recognized Ecuador is improving efforts to battle illegal fishing, preserve forests and wildlife, fight climate change and marine debris, and end child labor. It said the U.S. discussed next steps to renew the GSP.
The American Apparel and Footwear Association, after the government Consumer Price Index for January showed apparel prices up 5.1% and footwear prices 6.1% higher compared with January 2021, is arguing for an "immediate elimination and refund of punitive Section 301 tariffs on U.S. imports from China." CEO Steve Lamar asked the Biden administration Feb. 10 "to pursue swift and effective policies to immediately alleviate the increasingly overwhelming costs on companies and address the shipping crisis," and to get involved with the port labor negotiations for West Coast ports. That contract expires this summer.
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House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., argues that the America Competes Act and the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, the House and Senate legislation to confront economic competition with China, differ in significant ways but have the "same core principles."
The House passed its China package, the America Competes Act, on a nearly party-line vote, with one Democrat dissenting and one Republican voting for it. The America Competes Act and the Senate's U.S. Innovation and Competition Act both propose subsidizing American semiconductor manufacturing and both propose investing in science research to better counter China's play for technological dominance, but the House version spends far more money and includes some priorities that the Senate did not, such as $2 billion annually for climate change foreign assistance and a generous reauthorization of Trade Adjustment Assistance. The vote was 221-210.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hopes to be able to support the House China package, since the trade group supported the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, but said the House bill "continues to include numerous policies that would undermine U.S. competitiveness, and Members are being denied the opportunity to vote on amendments to address these issues." The Chamber said it will push during the conference process to get better bill.
Amendments that would have directed the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to broaden access to Section 301 exclusions and would have liberalized the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program will not get a vote when the America Competes Act gets a vote on the House floor this week, but the Ocean Shipping Reform Act will get a vote. That bill passed the House last year, but has not gotten a vote in the Senate.
Although it's not clear whether a full conference committee will be convened, or there will be an informal conference to reconcile the House and Senate packages, some Republicans are leaving the door open to incorporating the antidumping duty and countervailing duty law changes that only appear in the House's America Competes Act. Leading voices on trade in both the House and Senate, however, said the Senate version of renewing the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill should take precedence over those put forward in the Competes Act, since the Senate trade title had strong bipartisan support.
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.