The high price of fertilizers is a bigger emergency than the cost of solar panels, argued Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and six other Republican senators and U.S. Representative Tracey Mann, R-Kan., and 23 other Republican House members in a letter asking President Joe Biden to intervene in antidumping and countervailing duty cases on phosphate fertilizer from Morocco and a preliminary decision on a trade remedy case on urea ammonium nitrate fertilizer from Trinidad and Tobago.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and five other Democratic members of the House and two Democratic senators, have introduced a bill that would move food regulation currently in handled by FDA to a new agency in the Health and Human Services Department.
Seven House Democrats have asked the Biden administration why three Chinese solar panel manufacturers were not put on the entity list under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, as they say consulting group Horizon Advisory has reported that the three either have ties to forced labor or have signs of using forced labor.
E-Merchants Trade Council sent a letter to congressional leaders arguing that carving China out of de minimis eligibility, which is part of the House version of the China bill, would cost companies $499 billion in additional duties, taxes and fees. The trade group is advocating for trade rules that simplify cross-border shipments, CEO Marianne Rowden said.
Five Republican senators, only one of whom voted for the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), are asking that Senate conferees drop the directive to reopen a Section 301 exclusion process, and add a number of trade provisions only found in the House China package. Some House proposals that Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Ala., Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Florida's two senators, Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, both Republicans, want to include:
Emissions-intensive, trade-exposed goods such as cement, paper, glass, steel and chemicals are likely to be those facing carbon border adjustment taxes, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report about both the possibility of the taxes going into effect in Canada and the EU and what Congress would need to consider if it wanted to pass its own version.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who voted for the Senate's China package last year, publicly threw a wrench into the already difficult negotiations to hash out a compromise between the House and Senate approaches to investing in America and competing with China.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., introduced a bipartisan bill that would require CBP "to regularly review and update policies and manuals related to inspections of ports of entry." No further details have yet been released on the bill, which was introduced June 23 and has three co-sponsors.
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said he talked with Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi, and she has agreed to press India to reduce its pecan tariffs. Ossoff said pecan farmers have told him India's tariffs are a problem. "Responding to the needs of Georgia farmers, Sen. Ossoff raised objections to India’s high tariffs on pecans with India’s Ambassador to the U.S Taranjit Singh Sandhu in two separate engagements," Ossoff's office said in a press release.
The Senate unanimously passed a bill that would remove quotas and tariffs on imported formula for 90 days. The bill, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, passed June 23. Lee had originally sought to remove the tariffs and quotas for 180 days.