The mini-Omnibus bill to fund a quarter of the government -- including the Commerce Department -- dedicated $3 million more for the Bureau of Industry and Security than was spent in the last fiscal year, for a total of $118,050,000. The White House had asked for $120 million, with a little over $4 million of that for Section 232 exclusions, to hire 13 staffers and subcontractors to handle the flood of requests. The conferees said that they agreed to language "to ensure that the additional resources above enacted for BIS are devoted to an effective Section 232 exclusion process."
A bipartisan quartet of House members is working to put together a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer emphasizing that any trade deal with the European Union must include agriculture. The letter is led by Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., and Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind. Lighthizer already emphasized ag in his negotiating principles (see 1901140020), but the European Union is not willing to talk about ag, it said in its principles (see 1901180022). Lead EU trade negotiator Cecilia Malmstrom has said that's because the two sides are looking for quick wins, and ag is a thorny issue. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has said that an EU trade deal cannot pass unless it includes agriculture.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said he doesn't know if Democrats' concerns about enforcement, environment and labor in the new NAFTA can be resolved with side letters or implementing legislation, or whether negotiations with Mexico and Canada would have to begin again. "We haven't really delved into that," Hoyer said, answering a question from International Trade Today Feb. 13, as he was meeting with reporters in his Capitol office. "There really has not been a great outreach from the administration either, at this point. As you well know, there's a substantial concern about NAFTA, and its impact on workers, and our jobs and on our wages. The fact of the matter, there has not been substantial discussion about it."
The approach to a future bill that would give Congress the ability to intervene on Section 232 tariffs will depend on what version can get the broadest bipartisan support, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters Feb. 13. He said he doesn't have his mind made up on what has to be in the bill to constrain Section 232 actions. He said his staff is "moving very quickly" to put together a bill that "shows the appropriate respect to [Sen. Pat] Toomey and to [Sen. Rob] Portman," Republican committee members who have each authored bills that would constrain the president on the tariffs (see 1901310029 and 1902120033)
If any of the countries under review in the Generalized Systems of Preferences are going to lose access to the program, India is the most likely, according to a trade advocate who works on GSP. The advocate spoke to International Trade Today after speaking with staff who handle GSP at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and said he does not know if India will have some products removed, be suspended, or, like Russia, "graduate" from the program because the U.S. says it has developed enough.
Senators across the political spectrum -- from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. -- see levying national security tariffs on imported automobiles as "a step too far," Ohio Republican Sen. Robert Portman said, and he believes his bill, S.B. 365 on Section 232 tariffs could pass Congress and avoid a presidential veto.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said that neither Mexican nor Canadian politicians will ratify the new NAFTA as long as those two countries are subject to U.S. Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. Grassley, who was speaking to reporters on a conference call Feb. 12, has said in the past that Canadian and Mexican retaliatory tariffs reacting to those tariffs have to be lifted in order to get the new NAFTA through Congress (see 1901090041).
President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House Feb. 12 that he might not stick to a March 1 deadline for deciding whether to raise 10 percent tariffs on about $200 billion in China imports to 25 percent. "We have $267 billion that we were very nice about and we're not taxing," he said. "The 10 percent on $200 billion goes up to 25 percent on March 1st. And so far, I've said don’t do that. Now, if we're close to a deal where we think we can make a real deal, and it's going to get done, I could see myself letting that slide for a little while. But generally speaking, I'm not inclined to do that."
Seven years after the U.S. imposed antidumping and countervailing duties on South Korean large residential washers, the World Trade Organization has given South Korea the go-ahead to retaliate on American exports up to $84.81 million, just over a tenth of what the country had sought.
The two senators from New Mexico -- Democrats Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall -- on Feb. 7 introduced the Trade Facilitation and Security Enhancement Act, S.B. 414, which would require the 10 busiest land ports of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border to be open to commercial vehicles 16 hours a day Monday through Friday and at least eight hours per weekend. The extended hours would need to be put in place no later than six months after the bill's passage. They said spending the money to modernize ports and extend hours would "increase international trade and bolster economic development in border communities."