Bill Would Limit Chinese, Vietnamese Content in Goods Imported Under Future FTAs
Three liberal senators re-introduced a bill that would limit the amount of Chinese or Vietnamese content for goods that enter the U.S. under future free trade agreements. The bill, which Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., mentioned months ago during a Senate Finance Committee hearing (see 2107270062), would instruct the administration that any trade agreement brought for a vote in Congress would have to limit non-originating material to no more than 20% of the product's value, if that non-originating material came from non-market economies. The bill says that after the first five years, that content would be limited to no more than 10% of the product's value. A number of former Soviet republics are also on the International Trade Administration's non-market economy list, but they are not as significant players in the global supply chain as Vietnam or China.
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Casey introduced the same bill in 2020, but had no co-sponsors then. Now, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, have signed on.
The bill aims to modify the previous Trade Promotion Authority bill, which laid out Congress' goals for new free trade agreements. However, that fast track authority expired in July, and there is no TPA in effect. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is not working on any new trade agreements this year, since President Joe Biden has said he wants to prioritize investments at home before pursuing new trade deals. USTR Katherine Tai has also said that the Trans-Pacific Partnership is not likely to be re-entered. That is the trade deal that would be most affected if this bill were to become law.