The New Democrat Coalition announced the release July 19 of a new economic plan that includes a "comprehensive, fair, and transparent exclusion process for existing Section 301 tariffs." The caucus' Economic Opportunity Agenda says the exclusion process will "cut costs for Americans and ease global supply chain constraints."
Members of the Select Committee on China led a letter from 66 House members to the leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee, complaining that the expiration of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program has benefited China and led importers who had capitalized on GSP to return to China.
One of the leaders in the move to pass the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act recently introduced a new bill that would require the administration to enforce the ban on goods made with child labor, particularly cobalt and lithium.
House lawmakers proposed several trade-related amendments as part of the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, including a Democrat-backed measure that could require publicly traded companies to annually disclose whether their imports originate in or are sourced in part from China’s Xinjiang region or from factories “implicated in forced labor schemes.”
Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., are asking their colleagues to vote to encourage the administration to negotiate with other countries to lower or eliminate tariffs on pharmaceutical products and medical devices, and the U.S. would do the same. Their bill authorizes these sorts of changes.
The U.S. faces the challenge of "convincing ourselves that it's worth getting back into the game" of negotiating trade agreements that lower tariffs, rather than convincing other countries to do the same, former Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said during a June 28 webinar. "Without the U.S. leading, it's difficult to see expansions of trade," he said, adding that the U.S. is currently seen as uninterested in promoting trade through reducing tariffs.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., objected to a June 22 Senate motion that could have allowed the chamber to expedite procedures for a potential vote on a U.S.-Taiwan trade bill passed by the House a day earlier (see 2306220027). Cotton rejected a unanimous consent request put forward by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., saying the Senate “should not be ramming through such agreements” while lawmakers are still “studying this matter.”
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., introduced a bill designed to improve and modernize trade adjustment assistance programs, including "significantly higher funding levels and expanded eligibility," according to a summary provided by Blumenauer's office.
Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican who said he was tough on China before more senators got on the bandwagon, said corporate interests and U.S. interests have diverged when it comes to globalization. Rubio, who represents Florida, was speaking at a American Compass event June 21 on Capitol Hill.
Members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party met June 20 in Detroit with the CEOs of Ford and General Motors as well as leading automotive suppliers to discuss their reliance on China in their supply chains.