House Select Committee on China Chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., led a bipartisan letter signed by a dozen other House members asking National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Richard Spinrad to "strongly consider enforcing trade restrictions against the PRC on specific seafood products tainted by forced labor," such as tuna and squid. China's government has the right to 90 days of consultations on the issue before the administration imposes trade restrictions.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he spoke candidly with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a trip to Shanghai, saying China needs to stop unfair treatment of U.S. firms with operations in China.
The Senate Finance Committee's chairman and its top Republican jointly told U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai that she must make clear that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will immediately respond to Canada enacting any sort of digital services tax, "using available trade tools." Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, wrote that in italics, for emphasis. "When you take these steps, you will do so with our full support," the two wrote Oct. 10.
Senators from Kansas, Arkansas and Tennessee and seven Republican House members from Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina and South Dakota are asking the Commerce Department to reevaluate its data set in the administrative review of the countervailing duty order on phosphate fertilizer from Russia.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is asking the Biden administration to strengthen the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP), concerned that the aim has moved from an on-paper agreement to a mere forum.
Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., want the Biden administration to hike the tariff on ferrosilicon produced in Russia or Belarus to 35%, and introduced a bill that directs it to do so. Tariffs can be changed for those countries because the U.S. ended normal trading relations with them because Russia, with Belarus' support, invaded Ukraine.
Ten members of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, led by Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., are questioning the proportion of electronics shipments that have been released under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), after importers provided CBP with clear and convincing evidence that their supply chains had no Xinjiang links.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., introduced a bill that would hike the tariff on imported shrimp from India from zero percent to 10% in 2024, 20% in 2025, and 40% in 2026, a move he said is justified by the subsidies received by Indian shrimp farmers. About 40% of U.S. imports of shrimp are from India, the Sept. 28 news release said.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on CNBC Thursday the House won't approve a continuing resolution from the Senate, in part because it doesn’t address border security. “I think we could work through the weekend and I think we could figure this out,” he said. McCarthy held out hope the government won’t close at midnight Saturday. “We’re going to get this done,” he said. He acknowledged that reaching an agreement won’t be easy. “I’ve got challenges [in] our conference,” he said: “I’ve got members who will not vote to have a stopgap measure to continue to fund the government. I’ve got members who say they’ll never vote for an omnibus [bill]. Well, if you won’t do any of that, it’s hard to govern.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., filed cloture Sept. 28 on the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act (H.R. 3935), the shell bill for the chamber's continuing resolution that would avert a federal government shutdown and extend appropriations until Nov 17. The Senate voted 76-22 earlier that day on a motion to proceed to the CR.
A final rule that took effect in early 2022, ending bovine spongiform encephalopathy-related import restrictions for live sheep and goats and most sheep and goat products is the target of a bill introduced by five Republican senators from Western states. Sen. John Barasso, R-Wyo., tried to stop this rule before, in January 2022 (see 2201130006). USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said that the restrictions were put in place before "extensive research” showed that sheep and goats “pose a minimal risk of spreading BSE” (see 2112020022).