The House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said he will bring the massive America COMPETES bill up for a vote soon. While it may not need to attract any Republican votes to pass there, a bipartisan compromise will be necessary in conference. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said that the Senate's U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) was not adequate, aside from the issue that revenue measures, such as the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, must start in the House. "This legislation is the boldest, best option we have to stand up to China’s harmful actions and support American workers, and I look forward to discussing these proposals further during our conference on the package with the Senate," he said.
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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.
The trade provisions of the America COMPETES Act of 2022, the House's answer to the Senate U.S. Innovation and Opportunity Act, propose dramatic changes to antidumping and countervailing laws, a restriction on future Miscellaneous Tariff Bill lists, and would bar Chinese goods from entering under the de minimis statute. The House Rules Committee also released a section by section summary.
Imports from Haiti and the 16 Caribbean countries and U.S. territories covered by the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act declined 8.9% in 2020 from 2019, after a 8.2% decline from 2018 to 2019, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative reported. In 2020, the countries collectively exported $5.1 billion in goods to the U.S. -- behind faraway Slovakia. These imports represent only .2% of imports in 2020. The USTR attributed the decline to COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions.
The Coalition for a Prosperous America is asking the House Ways and Means Committee to move Democratic bills to curtail the use of de minimis and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill and to pass the Democratic version of a Generalized System of Preferences benefits program bill. Whatever the committee recommends will be subject to a cross-Capitol compromise, as part of a larger China package called the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. The Senate’s Trade Act of 2021, part of that package, also included requirements to reopen a broad exclusion process for Section 301 tariffs on China.
Both the bipartisan Senate and the Democratic versions of a Generalized System of Preferences benefits program renewal try to make the program do too much, says a think tank author who helped to administer GSP when he was assistant U.S. trade representative for trade policy and economics. GSP covers 3,500 of 6,900 tariff lines that are above 0, he noted, but it still covers only 11% of exports to the U.S. from GSP countries because of the categories that are excluded.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Earl Blumenauer said Congress would never have raised the minimis level to $800 if it had known how many products would be sold through e-commerce channels from China and shipped directly to customers. "It was never intended to be anything like this, and not only are they evading payment of duty, but they are escaping any sort of meaningful oversight," he said in a phone interview from Oregon with International Trade Today. "And as you know, we're deeply concerned about forced labor."
The House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee chairman's bill that would restrict the use of de minimis for Chinese sellers has already inspired a coalition of opponents, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Express Association of America, National Retail Federation and others. The Import Security and Fairness Act was introduced Jan. 18.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said that he and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., talked Jan. 12 about how to move on a renewal for the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill. Neal, who spoke with International Trade Today in a hallway interview at the Capitol Jan. 13, said that he talked with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai about the legislation this week, as well. Both the GSP and MTB lapsed more than a year ago.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top 20 stories published in 2021 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference numbers.