More than 430 businesses and trade groups asked the leaders of the Senate and House committees with jurisdiction over tariffs to ask the U.S. trade representative for a delay in his decision to bar India and Turkey from the Generalized System of Preferences program (see 1903040073). India accounted for more than $5 billion of the $21 billion in imports covered by GSP.
A bill that would provide $600 million for additional investigations into which Chinese companies are supplying fentanyl that is sold to drug dealers was introduced April 4, with the intention of holding China's feet to the fire in fulfilling its promise to crack down on fentanyl that is not intended for legitimate medical purposes. Three Republicans and four Democrats -- including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. -- introduced the Fentanyl Sanctions Act. The bill is also co-sponsored by Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Bob Menendez, D-N.J.; and Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
A Texas Republican and a Michigan Democrat in the Senate are co-sponsoring a bill that would require CBP to hire at least 600 additional officers a year until its staffing needs are met. Sen. Gary Peters, the ranking member of the committee that oversees CBP, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, introduced Securing America's Ports of Entry Act of 2019 on April 3.
A bill that would ban the sale of shark fins in the U.S. passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee April 3. The bill, led by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., also passed out of committee two years ago (see 1705180030), and had more than 30 co-sponsors and a companion House bill, but never came up for a vote in either chamber.
Arizona's senators -- Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Martha McSally -- wrote to CBP this week asking that the agency restore staffing levels at Arizona ports of entry. They said that since most of the illegal drugs come through ports of entry, reducing staffing there hurts security, in addition to harming the economy. "Currently, more than 27 billion dollars in cross-border trade flow through Arizona’s ports of entry. With a decrease in officers, wait times at the ports will increase, which will have a significant negative impact on Arizona’s import of produce and other goods," they said.
Pro-trade Democrats said that given the barrier of Section 232 tariffs, the fact that Mexico has not yet passed labor law reform, and other concerns, it's premature to be talking about the timing of a vote in the House of Representatives to ratify the new NAFTA. The president of the New Democrats, as well as two other trade leaders in the pro-growth caucus, talked to reporters April 2 after meeting with Canada's U.S. Ambassador David MacNaughton at the Capitol.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, complained again April 2 that President Donald Trump doesn't understand that to get the new NAFTA ratified, he has to lift tariffs on Mexican and Canadian aluminum and steel. "The president has to come to the conclusion," he told reporters on a conference call, "and I don’t know why it’s taking him so long, because he wants U.S.-Mexico-Canada [Agreement] to get through. It’s a real victory for him. It’s a real campaign promise kept. So why the slow movement on it? Get rid of them!"
A bill introduced this week by two Democrats that would give Congress some say on Section 301 tariffs (see 1903280054) was endorsed by Freedom Partners March 29. The pro-business group's executive vice president, Nathan Nascimento, said: "This bill is another signal that there is growing momentum for Congress reclaiming its authority over tariffs. Americans pay enough in taxes as it is without the executive branch imposing new levies unilaterally.”
Tariffs levied in the name of national security, whether under Section 232 or other statutes, could only last 120 days without affirmative congressional approval under a proposed bill from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del. This approach is similar to what's being considered in the Senate Finance Committee, but this bill, introduced March 27, also provides more information and consultation for Section 301 tariffs, such as those currently applied to Chinese goods. Under Section 301, the International Trade Commission would receive descriptions about what products will face tariffs, and at what rates, how long a tariff would last, and the ITC would produce a report on the impact on the economy. The bill would allow Congress to pass a joint resolution of disapproval of these tariffs, but that vote could be vetoed by the president. The bill is called the ‘‘Reclaiming Congressional Trade Authority Act of 2019.’’
Two Ohio Democrats who voted against the original NAFTA -- Rep. Marcy Kaptur and Sen. Sherrod Brown -- have clearly not been won over by the efforts of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to satisfy union autoworkers that the revised deal will stop the flow of jobs to Mexico. According to the Ohio state government, auto parts, auto manufacturing, and RV, tire and trailer manufacturing jobs employed more than 107,000 workers in 2019 -- though that included 1,700 who just lost their jobs at GM's Lordstown plant. That closure follows more than 38,500 jobs lost in the industry in the state between 2007 and 2009.