Brady Says No Substantive Discussions Yet on GSP/MTB Renewal
The top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee said Republican and Democratic staff on the committee "haven’t had extensive discussions on GSP and MTB, and won't, my sense is, as long as there’s an insistence on [linking them to renewing] Trade Adjustment Assistance."
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Rep. Kevin Brady, the Texas Republican who is leaving Congress at the end of the month, spoke to reporters Dec. 7. Brady said it's unfortunate, because he feels there is a compromise to be had between Democrats and Republicans on legislative language for the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill.
Brady was asked whether congressional Republicans can do anything to fix the Inflation Reduction Act so that its subsidies do not anger trade partners in South Korea, Japan and Europe.
"Well, look, I’ve got to fact check the president here when he claims that Democrats and the president never intended for the credits to damage our allies," Brady said. He said "they absolutely knew," because before the bill passed, they had visits from Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau and diplomats from Europe, Korea and others. Trudeau recently said his diplomacy resulted in edits to the bill, tying subsidies to North American manufacturing rather than U.S. manufacturing (see 2211300069).
Brady said Democrats were warned that "they were risking a trade war and retaliation against American products and services if they went forward -- and they went forward."
He said that since Democrats wrote the bill, Republicans don't have any obligation to revisit it to solve the problem. "They broke it, they need to fix it," he said.
The White House has said it doesn't intend to ask Congress for a legislative fix, implying that Treasury regulations can apply "tweaks" to the subsidy parameters.
"I’m hopeful those talks they’re having with the EU are useful, but they’ve got a broader group of trade allies who’ve got serious concerns about those provisions," Brady added.