Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., and other Republicans asked the administration to use all available tools to help the union that represents dock workers and the port authorities on the West Coast to reach contracts on time this summer. Braun and his colleagues wrote, "We have heard from a number of stakeholders with concerns that a breakdown in negotiations ... will lead to even more disruptions and shipping delays at a time in which our nation’s ports are reporting record backlogs. ... Any delays caused by failed negotiations will have a drastic cost and impact on our nation’s supply chain. This cost will be felt by not only retailers and others that rely on ports for their business, but also by millions of American workers, farmers, and ranchers, who may face short-term shutdowns at their factories or barriers to shipping their products to market.”
Senators and representatives from all over the country wrote to the International Trade Commission asking it to reconsider countervailing duties on phosphate fertilizer from Morocco and asking it to suspend the investigation on urea ammonium nitrate solutions from Trinidad and Tobago.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., reacting to a report in Inside U.S. Trade that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative decided not to launch a new Section 301 investigation on China yet, sent a letter March 15 to USTR Katherine Tai asking whether the report is accurate and if so, why. A USTR spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment on the letter. Cotton wrote that the Chinese Communist Party "has shown nothing but malice towards this nation and should be shown no leniency in our response to its economic aggression. For this reason, I am deeply disappointed to learn that USTR is not pursuing an expansive set of Section 301 investigations into China’s anti-competitive and illegal trade practices."
Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., introduced a bill March 16 that would give CBP the authority to share information with rights holders when counterfeit goods are imported into the United States. A similar provision passed the Senate in its China package, known as the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. USICA authorizes CBP to share information on suspected violations of intellectual property rights with “any other party with an interest in the merchandise.” Restrictions on sharing information about counterfeits with trademark holders have been a hurdle to stopping counterfeits, CBP has said (see 2104160033).
Wyoming's two senators, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., introduced a bill to ban the import of Russian uranium. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a press release: "The time is now to permanently remove all Russian energy from the American marketplace. We know Vladimir Putin uses this money to help fund his brutal and unprovoked war in Ukraine. While banning imports of Russian oil, gas and coal is an important step, it cannot be the last. Banning Russian uranium imports will further defund Russia’s war machine, help revive American uranium production, and increase our national security.” Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., said that "Wyoming has more than enough uranium to fill this gap."
Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, have reintroduced a bill, the Securing America’s Ports of Entry Act, that would hire at least 600 additional CBP officers a year until airports, seaports and land ports of entry are fully staffed.
Senators on the Finance Committee agreed that deepening trade ties with countries in Asia is important both for geopolitical and economic reasons, but they disagreed during a March 15 hearing on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework about whether a traditional free-trade agreement is a better approach than the IPEF.
Members of Congress from Ohio, Texas, California, Michigan, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, New York, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington are asking the Commerce Department to "fully and fairly examine allegations that Chinese solar companies are circumventing antidumping and countervailing duties" on Chinese solar panels. Commerce said last week it needed more time to decide whether to take up a petition from Auxin Solar (see 2203090077). The letter, sent March 15, was led by Reps. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., and Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan., introduced a bill that would allow for a one-year waiver of antidumping and countervailing duties "if there is an emergency situation including natural disasters, war, epidemics, labor disputes, or major accidents."
The Senate voted March 10 to confirm Maria Pagan as deputy U.S. trade representative in USTR's Geneva office to serve as an ambassador to the World Trade Organization. Pagan joined USTR's staff in 2003, rising to deputy general counsel and aiding the agency across multiple administrations on a host of trade agreements and negotiations. Before joining USTR, Pagan was an attorney adviser in the Office of the Chief Counsel for International Commerce at the Commerce Department. During her confirmation hearing, Pagan said that reforming the WTO's Appellate Body is a top priority since the body's "overreaching has shielded China's non-market practices and hurt the interest of U.S. workers and businesses" (see 2111300063). She was confirmed by an 80-19 vote, with Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., not voting.