Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have said in a letter to the U.S. trade representative that lowering de minimis in the implementing legislation for the new NAFTA is unwelcome. "We strongly oppose any change to existing law that would authorize the Administration to lower the current U.S. de minimis threshold to make it reciprocal with its trading partners," they wrote Feb. 27. "While we are deeply disappointed that both Canada and Mexico were unwilling to raise their de minimis thresholds for express shipments to match the U.S. $800 de minimis level, lowering the U.S. threshold in response is contrary to well-demonstrated Congressional intent."
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, thinks passing the new NAFTA is urgent, but he acknowledged that not much will happen on Capitol Hill until the White House offers its implementing legislation. "The timeline begins when the president sends the [U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement] up to Congress, so we don't worry about it until then," he said. Grassley said that while the administration is deciding how to lift the metals tariffs on Canada and Mexico, he is planning to talk to Democrats about what they need to have changed in the agreement to vote yes. "I would like to have very specifically set out what it takes in the area of environment, labor and enforcement to satisfy the Democrats," Grassley said in a phone call with reporters Feb. 26. He said again that whatever they're asking for has to be accomplished without reopening negotiations (see 1902130049).
The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing Feb. 27 on U.S.-China trade, with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as the witness. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. EST and can be watched online.
A senator who has not yet signed on to either current Senate bill tackling national security tariffs says he prefers the stronger approach taken by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. (see 1901310029). Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a phone call from Connecticut that he believes that because Toomey's bill requires Congress to act within 60 days to accept or reject new tariffs, it would still allow the tariffs to be used in true national emergencies. Blumenthal said that because the approach taken in the other bill, sponsored by Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, (see 1902060051) -- essentially a disapproval resolution after tariffs are announced, giving Congress power to overrule the president on future Section 232 tariff actions -- it would require veto-proof majorities to change the White House's course. "In this day and age, veto-proof majorities are pretty rare," Blumenthal said.
The top leaders from both parties on the House committee that oversees the Food and Drug Administration have asked that the agency brief the committee staff on its efforts to conduct foreign inspections of facilities that make prescription drugs or the chemicals that go into those drugs that are exported to the U.S. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Health Subcommittee Chairwoman Anna Eshoo, and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairwoman Diana DeGette -- along with their Republican counterparts -- sent a letter Feb. 13 to the FDA about their concerns that dangerous drugs could be imported as a consequence of poor oversight of foreign facilities. They noted that a Government Accountability Office report in 2016 found that 1,000 facilities had never been inspected, and that a more recent analysis found 400 still haven't been inspected. The letter also noted the recalls and import alert on a Chinese facility because of contaminants in the drugs it makes, and asked to be briefed on those specific problems.
Seven Democratic senators, led by New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, sent a letter Feb. 13 to President Donald Trump telling him that only an agreement that stops China's forced tech transfer, stops discriminatory licensing, stops cybertheft and stops China from facilitating the buying of U.S. high-tech firms would be acceptable. Also signing the letter were Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Mark Warner of Virginia, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Michael Bennet of Colorado and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. They wrote: "The only way to hold the Chinese government to its word is to lay out clear metrics by which we can judge compliance."
Sen. Jon Tester, a moderate Democrat who represents Montana and the owner of an 1,800-acre farm, told International Trade Today that he's interested in evaluating both recently introduced bills that would limit Section 232 authority. "The whole trade war stuff is killing us in Montana, just killing us," he said to International Trade Today. "Ag prices are in the tank, and it doesn't matter if you're talking pulse crops, grain, cattle, they're all in the tank." He added, "I'm still in the business. I was sitting last night figuring out what I'm gonna plant ... there isn't anything worth any money." He predicted that farm foreclosures will continue to rise "if we don't get this squared away."
The mini-Omnibus bill to fund a quarter of the government -- including the Commerce Department -- dedicated $3 million more for the Bureau of Industry and Security than was spent in the last fiscal year, for a total of $118,050,000. The White House had asked for $120 million, with a little over $4 million of that for Section 232 exclusions, to hire 13 staffers and subcontractors to handle the flood of requests. The conferees said that they agreed to language "to ensure that the additional resources above enacted for BIS are devoted to an effective Section 232 exclusion process."
A bipartisan quartet of House members is working to put together a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer emphasizing that any trade deal with the European Union must include agriculture. The letter is led by Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., and Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind. Lighthizer already emphasized ag in his negotiating principles (see 1901140020), but the European Union is not willing to talk about ag, it said in its principles (see 1901180022). Lead EU trade negotiator Cecilia Malmstrom has said that's because the two sides are looking for quick wins, and ag is a thorny issue. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has said that an EU trade deal cannot pass unless it includes agriculture.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said he doesn't know if Democrats' concerns about enforcement, environment and labor in the new NAFTA can be resolved with side letters or implementing legislation, or whether negotiations with Mexico and Canada would have to begin again. "We haven't really delved into that," Hoyer said, answering a question from International Trade Today Feb. 13, as he was meeting with reporters in his Capitol office. "There really has not been a great outreach from the administration either, at this point. As you well know, there's a substantial concern about NAFTA, and its impact on workers, and our jobs and on our wages. The fact of the matter, there has not been substantial discussion about it."