Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., complained this week that Brazil is not in the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, and that APEP, once its negotiations are completed, is unlikely to increase U.S. agricultural exports to member countries. Young, speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the future of U.S.-Brazil relations, said farmers in his state rely on market access-opening trade deals, and said the U.S. should try to convince Brazil to lower its tariff barriers on corn, soybeans and ethanol.
While the Section 232 tariffs increased domestic steel production by 5% and increased smelter utilization by about 15%, there was $3.4 billion less manufacturing across the most impacted metal consuming industries -- industrial machinery, cutlery and handtool factories; motor vehicle suspension and steering components; agricultural/mining/construction manufacturing, and metal fabricators, according to an International Trade Commission report.
The Customs Business Fairness Act, a bill that would restore a carve-out to bankruptcy law that would protect customs brokers, was reintroduced in the House last week. The bill would make it so that the money that brokers send to CBP to pay tariffs is not subject to clawback if the clients who paid the tariff go bankrupt. In bankruptcy, clawback provisions are there so that company insiders or other parties don't get favorable payments just before a filing.
The Senate recently passed, through unanimous consent, a bill that says that public disclosure of manifest information, such as the name and address of the importer or consignee and the name and address of the shipper, will not happen if the "Secretary of the Treasury makes an affirmative finding on a shipment-by-shipment basis that disclosure is likely to pose a threat of personal injury or property damage."
Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, one of the Democratic party's majority makers in 2018 and a centrist from the Houston area, will lead the trade task force in the New Democrat Coalition caucus this Congress. She said the New Dems want to advocate for tariff relief, and for tariff elimination with the U.K. and the EU. "The New Dems have long been at the center of driving pro-growth, pro-innovation policy that recognizes the importance of trade in our economy and the opportunities that it presents," she said at a recent press conference announcing the leaders of the task forces. Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., and Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., are the co-chairs of the task force, and both serve on the House Ways and Means Committee.
For the second year in a row, members of Congress are arguing that they should vote to ban the import of Russian uranium (see 2203280068), but the Senate reintroduction of the bill is now bipartisan, with powerful swing vote Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on board.
Two Republicans and two Democrats have introduced a bill to renew HELP, the Haiti Economic Lift Program, which would extend tariff breaks for apparel from Haiti for 10 years beyond the current 2025 expiration date. The products covered are 93% of Haitian exports, according to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
Senators unveiled legislation this week that would give the administration new authority to block transactions with TikTok and other foreign technology products that threaten U.S. national security. The bill, which has bipartisan support and was endorsed by the White House, would require the Commerce Department to establish new procedures to prohibit or mitigate transactions involving information and communications technology products “in which any foreign adversary has any interest and poses undue or unacceptable risk to national security.”
Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and John Thune, R-S.D., recently introduced a bill called Undertaking Negotiations on Investment and Trade for Economic Dynamism (United) Act, which would use the last trade promotion authority's language to authorize a free-trade negotiation with the U.K.