Rep. Joe Cunningham, a Democrat who beat a Republican incumbent in South Carolina, recently introduced a bill that would give Congress the ability to block Section 201 or 301 tariffs if they could muster veto-proof majorities. It would also require that Section 232 tariffs be approved by Congress within 60 days of a Commerce Department recommendation if they are to go into effect. The bill, which does not have any co-sponsors, includes a two-year retroactivity period for Section 232 tariffs, which would give Congress the ability to rescind steel and aluminum tariffs. “No President, Democratic or Republican, should be able to unilaterally impose tariffs without Congressional approval. No one wins in a trade war, and this legislation will allow Congress to play a more proactive role in trade policy,” Cunningham said in a press release announcing the bill earlier this month.
The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America is endorsing a bipartisan bill that would authorize the hiring of an additional 240 agricultural inspectors at CBP in each of the next three years. The bill was introduced July 11 by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.
Correction: Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., is in her second term in the House of Representatives (see 1907120012 and 1906250029).
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., is leading a three-day trip to Mexico to meet with Mexican government officials -- including the president -- and other stakeholders. They are traveling both to the border, where environmental issues are a particular concern, and to Mexico City. The group is getting first-hand information for resolving issues related to passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the NAFTA replacement.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed five consumer product safety bills July 17, that address furniture, baby products and portable fuel containers. The bill are:
Rep. Ron Kind, a pro-trade Democrat from a rural district in Wisconsin, is questioning the Trump administration's claims that large-scale purchases of commodities would follow the meeting of the Chinese and U.S. presidents at the G-20 Summit in Japan. He sent a letter to Larry Kudlow, the president's chief economic adviser, and to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on July 17 making this point. "On July 15, Mr. Kudlow stated that the Administration expects that China will soon be announcing 'some large scale purchases' but offered no further details. Farmers in Wisconsin and around the country are under intense pressure to stay above water, and any notifications of additional agricultural purchases should be clearly communicated to the Congress and the public."
There’s no question China “has engaged in unfair trade practices such as forced technology transfer and intellectual property theft,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer June 17, as posted July 16 in docket USTR-2019-0004. “The question is whether the broad-based tariffs imposed and proposed by the current administration are the right approach to addressing such issues,” Feinstein said. “They are not.” The Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports “threaten U.S. jobs and businesses, including so many of those in California that rely on international trade,” she said. “The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which handle nearly half of the container trade with China, have seen the flow of goods slowed due to the tariffs and the uncertainty surrounding them.” Feinstein has heard from “numerous” California companies “about the pain the tariffs are causing them,” she said. The tariffs are “disrupting their supply chains and raising their costs of doing business in ways that damage their competitiveness and in some cases, threaten their existence,” she said. The “primary impact” of the proposed List 3 tariffs “will be to damage our own citizens, businesses, and economy,” she said. “I urge you to pursue alternative approaches to address real trade issues with China.” Three rounds of 25 percent tariffs remain in effect on roughly $250 billion worth of Chinese imports. President Donald Trump last month delayed putting the threatened List 4 duties into effect on virtually all remaining Chinese goods as the U.S. and China try to restart talks toward a comprehensive trade deal (see 1906290001).
Rep. Cindy Axne, D-Iowa, and Rep. James Baird, R-Ind., sent a letter to CBP urging the agency to prioritize inspections and screenings of agricultural imports so that African swine fever doesn't spread to the U.S. The disease, which can spread through equipment and clothing, not just animal-to-animal, has devastated China's pork production, and is endemic in Eastern Europe, and present in South Africa and Belgium as well, they said.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters July 16 that he's no longer making predictions about how or when the China-U.S. trade conflict might get resolved. In April, before the breakdown in talks, Grassley was cheering the progress the administration was making (see 1904100052). He said he had been expecting something to be signed in late May, and when the talks fell apart, "I thought we were at the 10-yard line getting an agreement." So now, he said, "I'm going to be very careful" about reacting to news about how things are going between negotiators. He said he heard the rumors that hawks in China are ascendant, and that an addition to the Chinese negotiating team bodes ill for an agreement, but then also saw commentators saying such pessimism is overblown. "I’m just going to take it a day at a time," he said.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who's also running for president, has asked an ethics official in the Commerce Department to examine whether the head of the International Trade Administration and the acting undersecretary for Industry and Security have ethical conflicts in the steel and aluminum Section 232 exclusion process. Both ITA and the Bureau of Industry and Security are responsible for evaluating the exclusion requests, and BIS officials ultimately grant or reject the requests.