Ann Marie Buerkle, the acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has been renominated by the White House to lead the commission. Rep Greg Walden, R-Ore., the ranking member on the Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a news release that he's pleased her nomination came back for the new Congress. "Since joining the Commission in 2013, she has shown her commitment to protecting consumers while ensuring the safety of products in the market," he said.
EBay praised a bipartisan group of Congress members who want the U.S. trade representative to stop talking about "reciprocal" de minimis levels. There is a footnote to that effect in the new NAFTA (see 1810190043) that has drawn opposition from trade groups in the past (see 1811060010). But despite that, the USTR included the same language in negotiating priorities for both Japan and the European Union. The EU is on a path to have no de minimis level at all for tax purposes. EBay is critical of the de minimis increases USTR convinced Mexico and Canada to agree to, because there are lower tax de minimis levels than the duty de minimis of $117. The company called it "unnecessarily complicated."
A legislative effort from Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., to expand the president's ability to impose new tariffs (see 1901160012) is a troubling prospect for retailers, according to the National Retail Federation. NRF Senior Vice President for Government Relations David French said Congress “should be working to protect local communities from an escalated trade war” brought on by the Trump administration’s Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports and China’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods. Duffy’s “misguided” legislation “would do the exact opposite, giving the executive branch limitless power to raise taxes in the form of tariffs,” French said. “Congress has already ceded far too much of its clear constitutional authority over tariffs, and we are witnessing the consequences unfold across the country. The idea that Congress would make matters even worse by further abdicating its role on trade policy is simply unconscionable.” Duffy's bill would give the president the ability to raise U.S. tariffs to match other countries' levels without having to justify the move through a safeguard or national security investigation.
The attempt to stop the Trump administration from lifting sanctions on Russian aluminum producer Rusal failed on Jan. 16, when a vote to end debate was taken but didn't garner the required 60 votes. This was the third vote on the matter, and like the first two (see 1901150025), there were 57 senators who wanted to keep the sanctions, including 11 Republicans. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, did not vote, so the move failed 57-42. The sanctions, first levied in April, have never been fully implemented.
A bill that would delay the imposition of Section 232 tariffs on imported autos and auto parts until the International Trade Commission evaluates the industry was reintroduced in the Senate Jan. 15 by its co-sponsors Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala. Jones and Alexander introduced their first bill in July last year (see 1807250048). The ITC is closed during the partial federal government shutdown, and any such comprehensive study would likely have to wait until after the ITC evaluation of the economic benefits of the new NAFTA. The Commerce Department is supposed to make its recommendation to President Donald Trump in mid-February.
President Donald Trump needs "the tools to make sure we're not robbed any more," said Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., so he told host Lou Dobbs on the Fox Business Network that he'll introduce The Reciprocal Trade Act on Jan. 17. Duffy said the way international trade works now is "absolutely unfair," and the president needs more leeway to raise U.S. tariffs to foreign levels. He gave the example of the 10 percent tariff in Europe on imported cars and a 68 percent tariff there on butter. He said the U.S. has a 3.8 percent tariff on butter. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has already said that such a bill is dead on arrival in his chamber (see 1901090041). "We ain't going to give him any greater authority," he said a week ago. "We've already delegated too much." Duffy complained to Dobbs that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is trying "to sandbag this movement."
House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., will be introducing a resolution that would disapprove of the Trump administration's decision to lift sanctions on Russian aluminum producer Rusal and related companies (see 1812270035), which is due to take effect Jan. 18. In order to prevent the action, the Senate and the House must both disapprove of the sanctions' lifting. The Senate voted Jan. 15 to approve a motion to proceed to a resolution on disapproval. However, that is not the final word in the Senate.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he will force a vote before Jan. 17 on a resolution that would stop the Treasury Department from lifting sanctions on Russian aluminum producer Rusal and related Russian companies. In order to stop the administration, both the House and Senate would have to vote for the joint resolution. In his press release announcing the intention, he said he "has concluded that the Treasury Department’s decision to lift sanctions on these three Russian companies was misguided and believes that the Senate must act to right the Trump Administration’s wrong, especially given the fact that the Special Counsel’s Russia investigation has not yet completed its work."
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., is asking the Treasury Department not to lift the sanctions on Russian aluminum producer Rusal and related companies until Congress is able to do a thorough review of intelligence assessments. Neal sent Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin a letter Jan. 10 with the request. Rusal is scheduled to be delisted from sanctions Jan. 18 (see 1812270035)
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., have introduced a bill that would require the administration to review whether Cambodia should remain on the list of countries eligible for the General System of Preferences. Cambodia exported $400 million worth of products in 2017 that are covered by GSP, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Only eight GSP countries had higher GSP exports that year. In all, more than $21 billion in imports received GSP duty benefits during 2017. Cruz said that Cambodia does not meet basic labor rights standards, has had the integrity of its elections undermined by its prime minister, and tilted toward China. "The [just introduced] Cambodian Trade Act aims to hold [Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen] and his government accountable for this behavior, and reinforces steps our European partners are taking," he said in a statement. Coons added that "Countries that undermine democracy, ignore labor standards, disregard human rights, and fail to protect intellectual property should not enjoy special trade privileges."