Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. largely agrees with President Donald Trump that the U.S. has been on the losing end of most trade agreements, Manchin said while speaking at an event on trade May 23 at the Heritage Foundation. Manchin said he's happy with the trade relationships the U.S. has with Canada and Europe, but, "other than that, we're very skeptical." He said he likes where adviser Peter Navarro is going and how U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, approaches trade, but he doesn't like other views in the administration. "I think [Trump] has had a lot of infighting, which is to be expected, but it's the undecidedness right now that is causing a lot of inaction."
A bipartisan group of senators, led by the No. 2 man in Republican leadership, asked the treasury secretary, commerce secretary and U.S. trade representative not to loosen export controls for China as they consider how to narrow the bilateral trade deficit. The letter, sent May 22, said loosening export controls on sensitive technology "would bolster China’s aggressive military modernization and significantly undermine long-term U.S. national security interests." Including Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., 14 Republicans, 12 Democrats and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine signed the letter. The missive also brings up the possible softening of sanctions on Chinese telecom giant ZTE: "In addition, we urge you not to compromise lawful U.S. enforcement actions against serial and pre-meditated violators of U.S. law, such as ZTE. Export control and sanctions laws should not be negotiable, because fidelity to the rule of law is a key part of what distinguishes the U.S. from a country like China that is ruled by a Communist dictatorship."
The Senate Banking Committee approved by a 23-2 vote on May 22 an amendment that would prohibit President Donald Trump from changing the seven-year export ban for ZTE -- or any other Chinese telecom company penalties -- until the administration tells Congress the company is no longer violating the law, and has not done so for a year, and is fully cooperating with investigators. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who introduced the amendment to the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, said after the vote: "We know ZTE is a repeated and flagrant violator of U.S. laws -- there’s absolutely no question of their culpability. Yet the President of the United States is fighting to protect jobs in China at a company that may be spying on Americans and has been sanctioned by our government. This is deeply troubling, regardless of your political party."
More than 60 percent of the Senate's 51 Republicans sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer telling him a "take-it or leave-it strategy" of presenting a NAFTA rewrite at the same time as a withdrawal announcement would not be successful. "In the past, you have suggested that your goal is to achieve overwhelming bipartisan support for a modernized NAFTA. We believe this goal is only achievable through a strategy to constructively engage Members of Congress as required by TPA [Trade Promotion Authority] and without attempting to force a choice between negative outcomes," the letter says.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., launched the Senate UK Trade Caucus with an eye to building congressional support for a bilateral trade agreement with the United Kingdom once Brexit is completed. "The United Kingdom is a significant ally and strategic partner, as well as Ohio’s fourth largest export market, and we have an opportunity to reaffirm that relationship with a mutually-beneficial trade agreement," Portman said in the May 22 statement.
The Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum will continue to apply to such goods from China despite a hold on new tariffs on other products from China while trade talks continue (see 1805200002), Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on May 22. "As it relates to China, the steel and aluminum tariffs will remain in force," Mnuchin said during a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services. "Those were not part of discussions," which were focused on the proposed Section 301 tariffs, he said.
The House Appropriations Committee unanimously approved an amendment on May 17 to its fiscal year 2019 Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill that would bar the Department of Commerce from renegotiating its recent set of sanctions against Chinese telecom giant ZTE. The amendment, offered by Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., follows days of Capitol Hill criticism of President Donald Trump for a recent tweet saying the administration is working with the Chinese government to keep ZTE in business (see 1805140046).
House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Richard Neal and Trade Subcommittee ranking member Bill Pascrell have asked House Speaker Paul Ryan to clarify what's next in Congress in consulting with the administration as it renegotiates NAFTA. In a letter sent May 18, Neal and Pascrell said: "NAFTA negotiations appear to have lost momentum." They added: “Noting that in the last 24 hours, you moved the goal posts on your own deadline by a seemingly arbitrary two weeks, at this juncture, we write to ask you, as the author of TPA [Trade Promotion Authority], what happens now?"
A bill that would require the postal service to get advance electronic information about international mail packages and share that with CBP passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee on May 16. Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Mich., and Trade Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., introduced the Securing the International Mail Against Opioids Act of 2018, H.R. 5788, on May 15. The committee considered the bill, which combines several pieces of legislation meant to fight opioid abuse, during a May 16 markup.
The U.S. trade negotiators should "engage with Mexico on geographical indication restrictions to ensure Mexico honors its existing trade commitments" with the U.S. regarding American cheese exporters, a group of 27 senators told U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in a May 15 letter. "As you work to re-negotiate" NAFTA, "we urge you to engage with your Mexican and Canadian counterparts to ensure that future trade policies do not limit export opportunities for American dairy farmers and processors."