FCC Public Safety Bureau publication of a list Friday banning gear from Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and Dahua Technology on national security grounds (see 2103120058) had “no factual basis and makes no sense,” said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Monday. “To maintain its monopoly and hegemony in science and technology, the U.S. government abused the concept of national security and state power, and went all out to suppress Chinese hi-tech companies,” he said. “This negates the market economy principles the U.S. side has claimed to champion and reveals its hypocrisy in touting so-called fair competition.” He said the U.S. should “stop groundless suppression of Chinese companies and create an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies operating and making investment in the U.S.”

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, reintroduced the Global Trade Accountability Act, a bill that would not allow any presidential hike in tariffs, tightening of tariff-rate quotas or other import restrictions without congressional approval. Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., co-sponsored the bill, which was first introduced in 2017. Temporary tariffs or quotas would be allowed under a national emergency but would expire after 90 days without congressional approval. “Congress has ceded far too much of its lawmaking power to the executive branch, including the power to unilaterally raise tariffs,” said Lee Thursday. “Sudden hikes in trade barriers can have real and devastating impacts on American small businesses, farmers, and families, including in my home state of Utah.” Paul said that "as a constitutional republic, tax increases should never be imposed by the whim of one person.”

The FCC Public Safety Bureau published a list Friday of communications equipment and services “deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to the national security” of the U.S., as directed by the Secure Networks Act. This equipment can’t be used in networks that receive USF funding. The list bans gear by Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and Dahua Technology. “The inclusion of these entities on the Covered List extends both to subsidiaries and affiliates of these entities, as well as to ‘telecommunications or video surveillance services provided by such entities or using such equipment,’” the bureau said. The Chinese Embassy and ZTE didn’t comment; Huawei declined comment. The others couldn’t be reached.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will use his upcoming meeting with Chinese officials to outline U.S. concerns over China's alleged human rights abuses and unfair trade practices, Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday. The March 18 meeting in Anchorage, announced Wednesday, will include National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese foreign affairs officials Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi. “This is an important opportunity for us to lay out in very frank terms the many concerns that we have with Beijing's actions and behavior that are challenging the security, prosperity and the values of the United States and our partners and allies,” Blinken told the committee. Blinken said he will discuss U.S. concerns over China's lack of a “level playing field” for American companies. He added there are no plans yet for future meetings. “This is not a strategic dialogue. There's no intent at this point for a series of follow-on engagements,” he said. ‘“Those engagements, if they are to follow, really have to be based on the proposition that we're seeing tangible progress and tangible outcomes on the issues of concern to us with China.”

Walmart threw its hefty weight behind the Section 301 litigation inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade, joining thousands of other importers Monday in seeking to get the Lists 3 and 4A Chinese tariffs vacated and the duties refunded. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative overstepped 1974 Trade Act authority when it waged the retaliatory tariffs against the Chinese and violated the 1946 Administrative Procedure Act with rulemakings lacking transparency, said Walmart’s complaint (in Pacer), mirroring virtually all the 3,500 others filed since beginning in mid-September. Walmart also joined about two dozen smaller importers to argue the Lists 3 and 4A duties are “unlawful and unconstitutional” because only Congress has the power of taxation. The levies also “were enacted contrary to the Fifth Amendment guarantee of due process of law,” said Walmart. From statements made by President Donald Trump and others in his administration, “an additional, if not the sole, reason and purpose for the List 3 additional duties was to collect revenue,” said the complaint. “To the extent the List 3 additional duties were revenue collection measures, they were beyond the scope of actions USTR was authorized to take by the Trade Act of 1974.” USTR didn’t comment Tuesday.

Retail imports at the top U.S. container ports are expected to rise “dramatically” in 2021's first half, “as increased vaccination and continued in-store safety measures enable additional shopping options,” reported the National Retail Federation Monday. “The supply chain slowdown we usually see after the holiday season never really happened this winter,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president-supply chain and customs policy. NRF estimates U.S. ports handled 2.06 million 20-foot-long containers or their equivalents in January, down 2.3% from December as the holiday season ended but up 13% from January 2020. NRF is forecasting ports will handle 11.7 million containers in the first half, a 23.3% increase over the same 2020 period.

The Senate Finance Committee approved by unanimous voice vote Wednesday the nomination of Katherine Tai as U.S. trade representative. Tai appeared to have broad bipartisan backing at her Feb. 25 confirmation hearing (see 2102250043).

China-U.S. economic and "trade ties" are “mutually beneficial,” said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson when asked Friday about U.S. trade representative nominee Katherine Tai’s testimony at her Thursday confirmation hearing that she thinks tariffs as a legitimate tool for remedying unfair trade practices (see 2102250043). “With interests closely intertwined, China and the United States stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation,” said the spokesperson.

Katherine Tai, President Joe Biden’s nominee for U.S. trade representative, enjoys broad bipartisan support in Congress through her work as a U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement negotiator as House Ways and Means chief trade counsel, said Nicole Bivens Collinson, Sandler Travis president-international trade and government relations, at a Sports & Fitness Industry Association webinar Tuesday. If all goes as well as expected with her confirmation process Tai could be sworn in as USTR as soon as March 8, said Collinson. At Tai’s Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing Thursday, she will be asked "many questions" about the Biden administration’s posture toward the Section 301 tariffs on China, said Collinson. The new administration has shown it’s “not moving anytime soon to remove those tariffs,” she said, and it’s possible Tai, as USTR, will “restart” the tariff exclusion process. Most of the remaining exemptions expired Dec. 31, except for COVID-19-related exclusions, which are scheduled to lapse next month. “We know there’s a strong push” in Congress and the business community to reinstate the exclusions and extend previously expired exemptions, she said. If the administration decides to do neither, “they could wait to see what happens” with the massive Section 301 litigation at the U.S. Court of International Trade, she said. “It’s very possible” the court’s three-judge panel could render an opinion by September or October, Collinson said. “They could come out and say these tariffs did exceed the statutory authority, and therefore they are illegal.” There’s speculation the administration won’t appeal the opinion to the Supreme Court if the plaintiffs prevail, she said. “This could be an easy way for the Biden administration to say we’re going to remove the tariffs because the courts have ruled the previous administration exceeded its statutory authority." Though Collinson isn't a lawyer, Sandler Travis has several attorneys representing importer plaintiffs in various Section 301 cases, the litigation’s docket report (in Pacer) shows. The White House didn’t comment.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is buried within an organization “hostile to the aggressive use of export controls,” and should be moved from the Commerce Department to the State Department, which puts national security first, said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Thursday during a Reagan Presidential Foundation program. Cotton wants the Office of Foreign Assets Control (see 2102190012) expanded and sanctions applied to those who steal intellectual property from U.S. firms and to those companies that profit from that theft. “Huawei has been effectively cut off from most high-end U.S. chips; the United States should ensure ZTE is cut off, as well. When the next Huawei or ZTE arises, the government should deal with it in the same manner,” he wrote. He said the U.S. should aim to bankrupt Huawei and ZTE through further sanctions and cut them off from the U.S. financial system. Cotton, who co-sponsored the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act (see 2102180023), said work is underway to fund the act. Commerce, Huawei, ZTE and the Chinese Embassy didn't comment Friday.