A bipartisan bill that would prohibit importation, exportation and interstate trade of bear viscera or products advertised as containing bear viscera was introduced in the House of Representatives on April 10. Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif.; Rodney Davis, R-Ill.; Ann Kuster, D-N.H.; and Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., co-sponsored H.R. 2264. The Bear Protection Act of 2019 says, "thousands of bears in Asia are cruelly confined in small cages to be milked for their bile, and the wild Asian bear population has declined significantly in recent years, as a result of habitat loss and poaching due to a strong demand for bear viscera used in traditional medicines and cosmetics." It also said that while most American black bear populations are stable or increasing, some bears have been poached for their viscera, and if that commercial trade grew, it could threaten American bear populations.
Rep. Vern Buchanan, the Florida Republican who's ranking member of the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, is co-sponsoring a bill that would impose sanctions on companies that make and send fentanyl to the U.S. Buchanan, joined by Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., introduced the bill April 10. The bill, H.R. 2226, notes that the Treasury Department used the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act to sanction a synthetic opioid trafficker in April 2018, but says "precision economic and financial sanctions policy tools are needed to address the flow of synthetic opioids." The bill is a companion to a bipartisan Senate bill introduced earlier in the month by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. (see 1904040028). It would require the administration to publicly identify the companies that are selling fentanyl to dealers, bar imports of any kind from those companies, freeze their assets, deny visas to its officials and cut them off from the U.S. banking system. Congress would dedicate $600 million for investigations to uncover which companies are responsible.
Liberal activists who opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- and some that have been active since they opposed NAFTA -- will work to pressure lawmakers to sign a letter demanding that a 10-year exclusivity provision for biologic drugs be removed from the new NAFTA. They are organizing events around the country for April 24, with buttons that say "NAFTA 2.0: Pharma Rigged It, Will Congress Fix It?"
Former Rep. Joe Crowley, who is serving as an honorary chairman of Pass USMCA, did not endorse the pre-August timeline that Republican House members have been saying is critical to passing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. But Crowley, who was defeated in a primary by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez last year, said, "I think time is of the essence. I don't think we have forever to do this."
Please consider delaying India's removal from the Generalized System of Preferences by at least 30 days, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., asked U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in a letter sent April 12. While the two senators, who chair the Senate's India Caucus, say they recognize there are issues with market access into India, the period shortly before India's elections is not the most productive time to negotiate. They asked that the termination -- announced March 4 to occur 60 days hence -- be delayed beyond those elections, which will conclude May 23. They also said they are concerned that the higher tariffs on imports that used to be covered by GSP could be passed on to consumers, at least in part.
The American Apparel and Footwear Association is endorsing the Mongolia Third-Neighbor Trade Act introduced this week in the House (see 1904110041). "Mongolian cashmere is a brand in and of itself. This bill would provide a market for Mongolia’s authentic cashmere, supporting growth and creating jobs throughout the U.S. cashmere value chain,” AAFA CEO Rick Helfenbein said.
Mongolian cashmere would enter duty-free if a bipartisan bill led by Reps. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., and Dina Titus, D-Nev., becomes law. The Mongolia Third-Neighbor Trade Act, introduced April 10, is also co-sponsored by three other Democrats and three other Republicans. "The Mongolia Third-Neighbor Trade Act is not just about imports of cashmere; it is smart policy that supports a strong, independent Mongolia that continues to be a beacon of freedom in the region and a strategic partner of the United States," Yoho said in a release announcing the bill. Cashmere wool from most countries faces a tariff of 6.8 cents per kg, plus 5.5 percent. The sponsors of a companion bill that will be introduced in the Senate -- Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Ala., and Ben Cardin, D-Md. -- also spoke about the bill's benefits. Their bill aims to "help bring stability, employment and economic empowerment to the women of Mongolia who comprise most of the country’s garment industry,” Cardin said.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, when asked about the possibility of increased Canadian retaliatory tariffs (see 1903290047) during a conference call with reporters April 9, said he doesn't blame Canada for its coming decision. "Our president is at fault for not taking the tariffs off," he said. He quipped, "They shouldn't put them on any Iowa products because I'm one of their best friends in the United States Senate saying we ought to take those [metals] tariffs off." He said he has been telling the White House for four months that the tariffs on Canada and Mexico have to be lifted before implementing legislation for the new NAFTA arrives on the Hill (see 1902120032). "I don't intend to give up," he said.
Randy Howe, CBP executive director for operations in the Office of Field Operations, testified April 9 that a typical wait exactly a year ago at the El Paso Port of Entry in Texas was 15 minutes for cargo trucks. "Yesterday, wait times were as long as 250 minutes," he said -- more than four hours. "At the end of the day, 63 trucks were not processed."
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, has joined with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, to propose that U.S. and Mexican officials inspect Mexican factories suspected of violating labor standards. Wyden's staff said that if that violation was verified, the U.S. would not give its products duty-free entry, and if there was forced labor, it could block imports from those factories entirely.