As rhetoric in Congress grew for banning Russian oil imports, the White House poured cold water on the idea. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said March 3 that "our objective ... has been to maximize impact on President Putin and Russia while minimizing impact to us and allies and partners. That would raise prices at the gas pump on the American people because it would reduce the supply available. And that is certainly a big factor for the president at this moment." She also said that sending more liquefied natural gas to Europe will help "accelerate its diversification from Russian gas." Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who introduced one of the bills that would ban crude oil imports, said 7% of America's oil comes from Russia (see 2203010044).
The House China package's trade title includes a major rewrite of antidumping duty and countervailing duty laws, but the Senate China package doesn't, so a conference committee from both chambers would have to agree to get the changes into law. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who co-sponsored the Senate bill colloquially known as Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0, said in a Capitol hallway interview that he thinks the chances of that happening are good.
Two Democrats and two Republicans in the House have introduced a bill that would require the Department of Homeland Security to offer third-party logistics providers slots in a Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) pilot. The bill, introduced Feb. 25, would give 10 non-asset-based logistics companies and 10 logistics companies that use their own warehouses slots in the pilot program, which would be required to last at least one year and as many as five years. The department would have to open applications for the pilot within the first year after the bill's enactment. Reps. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, Steve Womack, R-Ark., and Elaine Luria, D-Va., co-sponsored the bill.
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which has both passed the House and was included in the House version of a China package, is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Commerce Committee next month. The hearing will be March 3.
House Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee told U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai that she needs to provide "a detailed analysis" of how China did or did not live up to the phase one trade deal. "We have great confidence in your abilities to address the many challenges China presents to the United States and other market economies, and we hope you will expand detailed communication on these matters so that Congress and the Administration can be partners in developing effective U.S. responses," they wrote Feb. 24.
The American Association of Port Authorities announced Feb. 23 that its legislative policy council endorsed the Senate version of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, sponsored by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and John Thune, R-S.D. (see 2202040009). AAPA CEO Chris Connor earlier this month said, "U.S. ports are moving more goods than ever -- to foreign markets, to American homes, to American businesses. As shovels start hitting the ground for port capacity expansion, thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Klobuchar-Thune bill will further help the system by prioritizing cargo fluidity and increasing access for American businesses and consumers."
In preparation for considering the renewal of trade preference programs for Haiti, House Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal asked the International Trade Commission to study the role of the preferences programs in shaping Haiti's economy. The ITC has 10 months to produce the report.
Five senators, led by Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., they strongly support the House version of the trade title, the America Competes Act, over the Senate version, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, that all five voted yes on. "Investments in domestic production ... must be paired with pro-worker, pro-environment trade provisions to give American businesses and workers a fighting chance to compete against non-market economies, such as China, that are rigging the rules in their favor and denying our companies and our workers the only thing they need -- a fair shot," the Feb. 16 letter said. Also signing were fellow Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown, Ohio; Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts; Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island; and Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut. "The COMPETES Act trade title is directly focused on tackling competitiveness issues related to trade with China, including funding for adjustment assistance for workers, environmental safeguards against chronic pollution from foreign production and bipartisan proposals addressing trade enforcement and security issues."
House Science Committee ranking member Frank Lucas, R-Okla., and House Budget Committee ranking member Jason Smith, R-Mo., want the Congressional Budget Office to prepare a cost estimate for the China competition package before the House and Senate go to conference to resolve differences between the House America Competes Act and Senate U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. "H.R. 4521 went from a 30-page bill coordinating federal research and development in engineering biology, to a 3,000-page partisan package masquerading as a China competition bill," they said in a Feb. 16 letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced a bill that would eliminate the 14.75% tariff on imported solar panels. Rosen said in a press release announcing the bill, "Solar tariffs are hurting America’s clean energy economy by raising prices for American families and costing us jobs in this key industry, while failing to incentivize domestic manufacturing." She said the U.S. has one of the highest prices for solar panels globally. Moran said, "We should be working to bolster domestic solar manufacturing capabilities in ways that don’t stifle American solar deployment, raise energy prices for consumers or lessen job opportunities for American workers.”