Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, joined by five other Republican senators -- Rick Scott of Florida, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, James Lankford of Oklahoma, and Mike Braun of Indiana -- introduced a resolution asking the administration to finish negotiations on a free trade deal with the United Kingdom. If the resolution were to pass the Senate, it would not be binding, but would give a sense of the likelihood that a free trade deal could be approved in that chamber.

A group of Senate Democrats released text this week of a bill that would sanction the president of Honduras and block certain exports to Honduran police and military groups. The bill, which was introduced in February, would authorize sanctions on Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez for corruption and human rights violations and potentially designate him as a narcotics trafficker. It would also block U.S. agencies from issuing export licenses for shipments to Honduras’ police or military for certain control defense items and services. The export restrictions would apply to goods controlled under the Arms Export Control Act, including tear gas, pepper spray, water cannons, handcuffs, tasers, certain firearms and other crowd-control items. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced the bill with co-sponsors Patrick Leahy, Vermont; Dick Durbin, Illinois; Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts; Bernie Sanders, Vermont; Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island; and Chris Van Hollen, Maryland.

Two Senate Democrats this week joined a growing chorus of lawmakers (see 2102170013 and 2008110016) to urge the Joe Biden administration to increase sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project and prevent it from being completed. Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said they appreciated measures taken so far (see 2101190018) but urged the administration to continue to use “all the tools available to stop the pipeline’s construction” and to continue “using diplomacy” to build European opposition to the project. “This pipeline must be stopped and your leadership is required towards that end,” the senators said in a March 23 letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “[P]ublicly available information suggests that further sanctions are warranted at this time.”

A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill that would impose sanctions on Russian government officials responsible for human rights abuses against their own people. The bill, which was introduced in the House in February and the text released this week, would require President Joe Biden to impose Magnitsky human rights sanctions against Russia for the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the use of other biological weapons. The administration earlier this month sanctioned a host of Russian officials and agencies for Navalny’s poisoning and imprisonment (see 2103020067). The bill also calls for the State Department to “urge” Germany to “withdraw its support” from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project (see 2103180047). The legislation was introduced by Reps. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., Joe Wilson, R-S.C., Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and David Cicilline, D-R.I.

The Commerce Department should expand export restrictions on China’s top chipmaker to prevent it from accessing a broader range of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, two U.S. lawmakers said. In a March 18 letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, asked the agency to apply the foreign direct product rule to China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, which would restrict the company’s ability to import certain foreign-made semiconductor equipment that is built with or that incorporates U.S. technology. The move would subject SMIC to similar restrictions imposed by the Bureau of Industry and Security on other Chinese companies on the Entity List, including Huawei (see 2012210044).

A bipartisan group of senators called on the Biden administration to issue more sanctions to penalize China for interfering in Hong Kong’s autonomy. In a resolution introduced March 19, the senators, led by Marco Rubio R-Fla., Ben Cardin, D-Md., Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Ed Markey, D-Mass., said the administration should consider more sanctions under the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act and the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (see 2011120005) to “impose costs” on Chinese officials

House Ways and Means Committee chief trade counsel Katherine Tai was confirmed by the Senate as U.S. trade representative on March 17, by a 98-0 vote. Politicians from both parties, trade skeptics and export-focused trade associations all hailed her promotion to the Biden administration Cabinet. She is the first woman of color to be USTR.

Nine Republican senators on March 10 reintroduced a bill that they said will make the U.S. more competitive with China and counter illegal Chinese trade practices. The bill, originally introduced last year, would “tackle” Chinese efforts to “distort global markets” and allow U.S. technology companies to better compete with China by “increasing technology collaboration with allies and partners.” The bill also includes several policy statements about export controls and sanctions, and stresses that the U.S. should be “crafting multilateral export control measures” with allies and with multilateral control groups, including the Wassenaar Arrangement. Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who helped craft the bill, said the legislation may have bipartisan support. “We are committed to working with our Democratic colleagues to ensure the United States and its allies and partners are prepared for this competition,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., filed a motion to end debate on the nomination of Katherine Tai to be the next U.S. trade representative, which means a vote will come next week on the floor of the Senate. No date for the vote has been set yet.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers urged the Federal Maritime Commission to penalize carriers that decline to carry U.S. agricultural exports and asked for monthly updates on the FMC’s investigation into the matter (see 2011200024 and 2102170060). In a March 9 letter, more than 100 House members said they are concerned by reports carriers are sending empty containers back overseas rather than filling them with exports because the carriers can charge higher rates for imports (see 2103050014). “Such activity constricts entire supply chains and propels trade to move only in an inbound direction,” the lawmakers said. “These conditions are unsustainable for exporters, put significant strain on the U.S. economy, and simply unacceptable.”