In its annual State of American Business, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce chose to emphasize the need to double the level of legal immigration, its opposition to Build Back Better legislation and what it sees as overly aggressive antitrust enforcement over the need to remove tariffs on hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Chinese imports. Three years ago, the Chamber was arguing that the tariffs needed to go (see 1901100007), but last year, admitted it was not politically feasible as it laid out its trade agenda (see 2101130057).

Jorge Orencel, owner and operator of Maryland-based export business Sumtech, pleaded guilty on Dec. 17 to attempting to smuggle goods out of the U.S. without the required export license, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland said. Sumtech, under Orencel's leadership. specialized in distributing "high technology laboratory devices," across the globe, but in particular to South America, Asia and the Middle East. Orencel was busted for shipping ionization chambers to Hong Kong, while telling the company he bought the chambers from that he intended to ship the goods to Argentina. Orencel also intentionally undervalued the chambers themselves, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai took a victory lap at the U.S Chamber of Commerce's Transatlantic Business Works Summit, pointing to the removal of the digital services taxes on American firms, the agreement on steel and aluminum and the resolution of a 17-year fight on subsidies for Airbus and Boeing.

The U.S. and the European Union should pursue multilateral export controls, reexamine restrictions on certain munitions-related items and work together to better harmonize decisions on license denials, industry and academia said. The U.S. and EU released a joint summary Dec. 1 of those recommendations, which were made during an Oct. 27 virtual meeting on dual-use export controls (see 2110190020) to discuss areas of priority for the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council.

The House Science Committee has been ready to go to conference on science and tech legislation since passing its bills in June, but members are waiting for Democratic leadership to take action on the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S. 1260), the committee ranking member Frank Lucas, R-Okla., said in a recent interview.

Chambers of commerce in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. collectively are asking each country's leaders to hold each other accountable to fully implement USMCA. In a joint letter Nov. 16, they said, "The Canadian and Mexican private sectors share apprehension over differing interpretations of USMCA’s rules of origin and how the U.S. interpretation of these provisions poses risks to our integrated supply chains." They also said that the Canadian and U.S. private sectors are deeply concerned about Mexico's actions restricting investment in its energy sector. "Attempts to favor state-owned enterprises at the expense of renewable and other private energy providers only undermine investment certainty, put at risk ambitious shared goals to address climate change, and promise both added cost and diminished opportunity for our countries’ workers," they wrote, and said they hope government will engage the private sector in meaningful dialogue in both arenas. They also said in future emergencies like the pandemic, "there should also be greater cooperation on border management to ensure the flow of commercial traffic and cargo."

Two new agencies, the Council for Leather Exports and Udaipur Chamber of Commerce & Industry, are now able to issue Non-Preferential Certificates of Origin, India's Directorate-General of Foreign Trade said. CLE is located in the Tamil Nadu state and the UCCI is in Rajasthan. The DGFT's notice also updated the name and contact information for one of the existing authorized agencies: Marathwada Industries Association, which changed its name to the Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture.

The Commerce Department should tread carefully when imposing new export controls, foreign investment restrictions and limits on standards collaboration, which may jeopardize the U.S.’s position in global information and communications technology supply chains, U.S. companies and trade groups told the agency this month. Some of those regulatory restrictions are already having chilling effects on U.S. competitiveness, they said, as foreign firms and countries can quickly fill voids in overseas markets and leadership positions in global standards bodies.

Tariffs imposed on goods from China during the previous administration likely contributed to the ongoing chip shortage, though an increasing demand and port congestion are bigger factors, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said. Speaking during an Oct. 20 event hosted by The Washington Post, both underscored the severity of the supply chain crisis and said lawmakers should move faster to pass legislation that would provide more funding to the semiconductor industry.

Although U.S. traders would widely welcome the U.S. rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, industry officials are disappointed with the country’s lack of urgency on the trade pact and don't expect the Biden administration to prioritize the deal before its term ends. While they said mini trade deals, such as the 2020 agreement with Japan (see 1912050058), can serve as “short-term” bandages, they aren’t nearly enough to make up for the benefits U.S. traders would have received under TPP.