Senators said that officials from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative failed to consult properly before a proposal to make changes to the TRIPS Agreement regarding coronavirus vaccines was released, and that the agency's approach needs to change. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and ranking member Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, led the letter, which said: "Administrations of both parties have struggled to comply with the terms Congress has provided to ensure its views are reflected in our trade policy. Accordingly, we request that you take steps to ensure Congress is a full partner in the Administration’s ongoing trade negotiations, regardless of whether the Administration believes any eventual agreement from such negotiations will require formal Congressional approval. To that end, the Office of the United States Trade Representative... must provide Congress with timely, substantive briefings on negotiations and share all U.S. negotiating texts before the Administration commits the United States to a particular negotiating position or outcome."
Legislation from Senate Foreign Affairs Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J., would direct the administration to impose export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and asks that the government "develop a strategy to diplomatically engage the governments of the Netherlands, Japan, and other appropriate countries ... to formulate export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment" so that China couldn't purchase the equipment. The Economic Statecraft for the Twenty-First Century Act's text was published May 6. The bill also directs the administration to review the economic, diplomatic and security effects of implementing export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and how such a policy would affect China's semiconductor industry.
The Senate last week passed a motion urging Senate conferees for the compromise China package to include an Iran-related sanctions provision in the final version. The nonbinding motion, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asks the conference managers to include a provision stating that terrorism-related sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are “necessary to limit” cooperation between China and Russia.
A bill that would require the State Department to report to Congress on whether China is helping Russians "evade or circumvent United States sanctions or multilateral sanctions and export controls," or whether China is inhibiting onsite export control end-use checks within its borders, passed the House of Representatives on a 394-3 vote on April 27. The Assessing Xi’s Interference and Subversion Act was sponsored by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky. , who said after its passage, "We need a full report on the extent of the collaboration between Russia and China to inform the public and enable lawmakers to begin positioning the U.S. to overcome this geopolitical challenge.” If the bill becomes law, the first report would be due in 30 days, and then reports would be due every 90 days after that.
The Congressional Research Service issued a report May 2 on food security and trade issues caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The report said Congress should consider working with the Biden administration to “reduce supply limitations and global trade barriers for food and agricultural commodities.” CRS said a rise in global food export restrictions has caused food prices to spike even higher than levels reached due to the COVID-19 pandemic and earlier export bans on certain food commodities.
The top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, who will be one of the negotiators for the compromise China package, expressed pessimism that a version of the bill can be found that can get a majority vote in both the House and Senate. The Senate passed its version, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, with 67 votes; the House version, known as the Competes Act, only had one Republican on board.
The Biden administration needs to conduct a full review of its current sanctions against Iran before lifting any of the designations as part of a potential nuclear deal, said Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. McCaul pointed to the requirements under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which states the administration must conduct the sanctions review before Aug. 2.
The Senate voted 67-27 April 28 to formally begin conference talks aimed at marrying elements of the House-passed America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act (H.R. 4521) and the Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S. 1260).
The House on April 27 overwhelmingly passed a bill, by a 424-2 vote, that would clarify U.S. sanctions policy on Iranian efforts to acquire unmanned drones. The bipartisan Stop Iranian Drones Act (see 2112010019) would authorize U.S. sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act against anyone who helps Iran acquire unmanned drones or "combat aircraft," including their “commercially available component parts.”
Among the 28 motions to instruct for China package negotiations that will be considered next Tuesday and Wednesday in the Senate, two are on sanctions, and one requires that business funding programs document that technology developed at the companies receiving grants don't share sensitive technology with China or Russia.