The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce in each of the countries that have signed onto the Indo-Pacific Economic Forum issued a joint statement strongly supporting the IPEF but also suggesting that tariff reductions be considered. "That is the best way to achieve the most meaningful benefits for American businesses, workers, and consumers," they said June 23.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing told the administration that it's "absurd" to blame Section 301 tariffs for inflation, given they started years before inflation began to rise. "U.S. consumers would see little to no benefit from tariff roll backs and any erosion of tariffs will benefit China’s Communist Party and China’s manufacturing sector, which would make up the difference by increasing its prices," the group wrote. It said that all tariffs should remain. "AAM strongly supports allowing USTR to continue its fact-based exclusion process without congressional mandates or any other political interference that predetermines an outcome. While an accessible and transparent exclusion process is essential for trade enforcement actions, unwarranted tariff relief may very well signal the demise of a U.S. company that is seeking to establish a market foothold or one that has reinvented itself to fill gaps in our domestic supply chains," it wrote.
The National Council of Textile Organizations, the Narrow Fabrics Institute and the U.S. Industrial Fabrics Institute told the administration in response comments that if 7.5% Section 301 tariffs on apparel are lifted, it could risk "reversing once-in-a-lifetime nearshoring trends."
The National Council of Textile Organizations is arguing that the yarn-forward rule for the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement must be retained, because it is driving what it calls "massive investment" in the countries in Central America. The letter it sent to Vice President Kamala Harris on May 31 is timed to her attendance at the Summit of the Americas, and recognizes her role to try to mitigate the poverty and corruption that leads Central Americans to migrate to the U.S. without visas.
Almost 40 agricultural trade groups, along with two port and perishable logistics trade groups, asked the U.S. trade representative to reduce, lift or suspend tariffs so that China would lift its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. crops. “Tariff relief could not come at a more important time,” the trade groups said in a letter. “Rural America and small businesses are facing significant challenges due to the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, logistical and supply chain disruptions, record levels of inflation, and the increasing impacts of Russia’s war on Ukraine. "
Former Mexican ambassadors to the U.S. and a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico expressed anxiety that Mexico is not able to capitalize on the move to nearshore or friendshore for a variety of reasons.
Applied DNA Sciences recently received a first request for traceable tagged cotton "that is directly attributable to the recent passage of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," the company said in an earnings news release. The company's CertainT platform is described as allowing for raw materials and products to be traced through unique molecular identifiers. "Our team has presented to many members of Congress, Federal agencies, and Committees regarding the utility of our platform in enforcing the Act," the company said. "Though not expected to be material to revenue in the current fiscal year, the shipment anticipates a global brand’s multi-year commitment to our CertainT platform through a scaled deployment across its many supply chains. We believe that the passage of the Act is a trigger point for the wider adoption of our CertainT platform that holds the potential for molecular taggant sales for textile fiber applications to become a second material revenue stream," it said. "With less than 45 days before the Act goes into force, we believe interest in CertainT by brands and their supply chains has never been higher.”
Jon Huntsman Jr., a former U.S. ambassador to China and Russia, told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the current administration has not found a strategy on how to deal with China's economic abuses. He said intellectual property theft has grown to a trillion-dollar problem, and there's a need to address the distortions caused by Chinese industrial subsidies and state-owned enterprises. "If we don't define that agenda, nobody else will," Huntsman said.
TV imports to the U.S. in all screen sizes from all countries nudged 1.5% higher year over year in the seasonally weak first quarter, reaching 9.77 million sets, commanding an average customs value of $330.66, according to Customs data retrieved May 8 through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb portal. Q1 shipments fell 24.5% sequentially from Q4, and their average value trended 6.5% lower, evidence of the sustained decline in LCD panel prices that began late last summer.
Cargill confirmed its suspension of purchases of palm oil from Sime Darby Plantation following CBP's forced labor finding on Sime Darby's palm oil goods (see 2204180015). After CBP issued the finding, Cargill "urged Sime Darby Plantation Berhad to provide information on how they have addressed the CBP forced labor allegations," Cargill said in an email. "Sime Darby Plantation Berhad has not yet come forward with sufficient information that enables Cargill to assess if the actions Sime Darby Plantation Berhad is taking meet the requirements set out in Cargill’s Policy on Sustainable Palm Oil. Therefore, Cargill has decided to suspend all new sourcing of palm oil and derivative products from Sime Darby Planation Berhad." It said it will review its decision when more information becomes available.