Bloomberg reported that the White House will release the Section 301 tariffs review next week, with higher tariffs on electric vehicles, batteries and solar cells. The report said it's unclear if there will be any tariff reductions, "though large-scale reductions aren’t expected."
Customs lawyer John Foote, speaking at the Washington International Trade Association during a panel on import bans, investments and export controls, questioned whether the Biden administration is ready to coordinate forced labor import bans with allies, given how the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is still in its infancy.
Trade groups, companies and a union that represent the aluminum and steel sectors told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that they need more protection from import competition, by expansion of the scope of Section 232 tariffs, and by re-negotiation of the rules of origin in both trade agreements and the Section 232 exclusion for Canada and Mexico.
Sens. Catherine Cortez-Masto, D-Nev., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., would like to get a removal of the tariff on titanium sponge attached to the must-pass Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill. There is a 15% tariff on titanium sponge. Timet, a Nevada company, once tried to get quotas applied to titanium sponge imports through a Section 232 action (see 2002280047) and also had a failed trade remedy case; it no longer makes titanium sponge.
Former Sen. Chris Dodd, special presidential adviser for the Americas, said that the administration welcomes the Americas Act (see 2403060033), a bill that proposes setting country-by-country de minimis levels, and instructs the administration to reconsider U.S. tariffs "with the focus on the principle of reciprocity" for most favored nation rates and to open a dialogue with Mexico and Canada on allowing Costa Rica and Uruguay to join USMCA. It also would exclude Chinese and Russian shippers from de minimis eligibility, allow Ecuador and Uruguay to use Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act tariff benefits for certain goods, "with the goal of an eventual full-scale FTA with Uruguay and Ecuador," and asks the administration to make it so goods across Western hemisphere free trade agreements could cumulate among those agreements -- so Costa Rican content could be added to Colombian and Mexican content, for instance.
Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., said that despite Democratic opposition in the House Ways and Means Committee to a package of bills renewing and altering the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, he expects there will be enough support for the bill to pass under suspension of the rules, which requires two-thirds of the House. Most bills this year have passed under suspension of the rules, rather than with a rule fashioned by the very narrow Republican majority. Smith said GSP works well to get its beneficiary countries to treat U.S. exports more favorably.
A bill that would impose new requirements for e-commerce platforms to detect and police counterfeits, Shop Safe (Stopping Harmful Offers on Platforms by Screening Against Fakes in E-commerce), will be moving through the House Judiciary Committee "in the next few weeks," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said May 7. Issa, who chairs Judiciary's Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, spoke to International Trade Today after a hearing his subcommittee held on the administration's response to counterfeits.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Adrian Smith called out U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai for the lengthy wait for the Section 301 tariffs review, which officially started in July 2022 after a round of comments that year in May in favor of extending the action.
The subcommittee that covers intellectual property issues under the House Judiciary Committee questioned how Congress should address the escalating volume of de minimis packages -- and the opportunities those shipments provide for sending counterfeits and goods made with forced labor, but the CBP witness responsible for de minimis and IP declined to back any of the ideas that were bandied about.
Automakers and their trade groups cautioned the Bureau of Industry and Security to tailor its restrictions narrowly -- and allow a phase-in -- if they want manufacturers to stop buying information technology components from China for cars with advanced features, including electric cars.