No conference committee members for the Senate China package have been appointed, even though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said a month ago the package would go to conference "immediately" with House bills (see 2111180009).
The Generalized System of Preferences benefits program has been expired for almost a year, but Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., and Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., are suggesting that reauthorization include changes to how Competitive Need Limitations are calculated so that fewer products are removed from the tariff benefit, and so that products may be more easily restored if the import levels no longer qualify.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Nov. 29 - Dec. 3 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The leader of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee focused on making it easier for domestic industry to win antidumping and countervailing duty cases and said that the de minimis statute needs to be altered, in a hearing designed to talk about how Chinese practices damage workers, businesses and the environment.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce objects to legislation meant to update antidumping and countervailing duty laws, it said in a letter to leadership of House Ways and Means Committee and its Trade Subcommittee. Soon after the Chamber sent its letter, lawmakers introduced the House version of the Eliminating Global Market Distortions to Protect American Jobs Act, the legislation that the Chamber has concerns about. "The Chamber opposes this bill, which has not been subject to the scrutiny and deliberation required for a complex, far-reaching measure amending U.S. AD/CVD laws," the Chamber said. "This major overhaul of U.S. trade laws could add to inflationary pressures by raising costs for a wide variety of goods, including many products sourced from U.S. allies and partners."
The Trump administration's tariffs caused "a lot of damage to American consumers and business" and "we are no better off" after the phase one deal with China, House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said during a Dec. 2 roundtable with reporters. While not arguing that the Section 301 tariffs should be rolled back, he did say there should be an effort to "take them one by one and make some adjustments." He said there could be some Section 301 tariffs that could be changed without it being "politically toxic."
The author of the Trade Act of 2021, which was part of the Senate's China package, said that while the Senate and House "aren't even close to a conference yet," he hopes he will be on the conference committee, and that his legislation will be part of the compromise worked out between the two chambers.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Nov. 22-26 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Nov. 15-19 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal agreed to continue working to resolve outstanding trade issues "to reach convergence in the near future," according to a joint statement released Nov. 23 at the conclusion of the India-U.S. Trade Policy Forum (TPF) in New Delhi. Both countries discussed wanting better treatment of their exports. "India highlighted its interest in restoration of its beneficiary status under the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences program; the United States noted that this could be considered, as warranted, in relation to the eligibility criteria determined by the U.S. Congress."