The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America urged its members to share information about where their employees work, and to make calls to their representatives so that a temporary change to bankruptcy law that benefits brokers does not expire at the end of the year. The group "had several calls over the last couple weeks to rally congressional members to support" the Customs Business Fairness Act, Legislative Committee Chair Laurie Arnold said. “The overwhelming comment we receive during these conversations is ‘how many constituents are in my district that this would help?’ It is very difficult for us to give a good answer since we don’t have a complete list from our members.” This year, if an importer declares bankruptcy, the duties that brokers passed through to CBP in the 90 days before the bankruptcy filing are not subject to clawback. But if the provision expires, NCBFAA says, "We are left in the middle holding the bag and potentially on the line to hand over millions of dollars, depending on the size of the importer, to the bankruptcy trustee." The group lobbied for more than 20 years to get this change, "and we now have it," they wrote in an advisory to members. "Don’t let it slip away!"
The title of the panel, "All Carrots and No Sticks: U.S. Climate Policy & Border Adjustment Mechanisms," revealed the main problem for a trade-rule compliant, administrable carbon border adjustment mechanism -- there is no national price on carbon in the U.S., and passing legislation to create one seems out of reach. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., who participated in a panel hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the American Leadership Institute, said it's quite likely that in 10 years, all the major economic players, including China, could be ready to harmonize a price on carbon so that their manufacturers are on a level playing field. "I’m convinced this will happen over the course of the next decade but we don’t have time to wait for the next decade," he said.
A textile preferences program slated to end in 2025 should be renewed for 10 years, legislation, the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Extension Act, introduced by Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate says. Lead sponsors in the House are Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., and Rep Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., and in the Senate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce objects to legislation meant to update antidumping and countervailing duty laws, it said in a letter to leadership of House Ways and Means Committee and its Trade Subcommittee. Soon after the Chamber sent its letter, lawmakers introduced the House version of the Eliminating Global Market Distortions to Protect American Jobs Act, the legislation that the Chamber has concerns about. "The Chamber opposes this bill, which has not been subject to the scrutiny and deliberation required for a complex, far-reaching measure amending U.S. AD/CVD laws," the Chamber said. "This major overhaul of U.S. trade laws could add to inflationary pressures by raising costs for a wide variety of goods, including many products sourced from U.S. allies and partners."
More than 20 Democrats this week urged House leadership to consider a range of bills that they said can help ease supply chain backlogs and port issues. In a Dec. 2 letter, the lawmakers said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., should “turn the House’s attention” to those bills as the holiday season approaches “to specifically address the supply chain and resulting higher prices experienced by families across the country.”
More than 50 technology and auto companies urged congressional leaders to fund the CHIPS for America Act and pass a “strengthened version” of the Facilitating American Built Semiconductors Act, saying they would provide a much-needed boost to the U.S. semiconductor industry amid the global chip shortage. The companies -- including Apple, Microsoft, Ford, IBM and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) -- said chip demand has “outstripped supply, creating a global chip shortage and resulting in lost growth and jobs in the economy.” It has also “exposed vulnerabilities in the semiconductor supply chain,” they said, which has highlighted the need for a more robust chip manufacturing base in the U.S.
The Congressional Research Service published a report dated Nov. 10 on the supply chain issues at U.S. ports, detailing disruptions to customs processes, container flows and more. It also describes the range of port inefficiencies being faced by traders and forwarders, including equipment and driver shortages, container fees, and “inadequate” Department of Transportation data collection efforts on detention time that could have been used "for considering policy changes."
The Trade Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee will hold a virtual hearing Dec. 2 at 10 a.m. EST called “Supporting U.S. Workers, Businesses, and the Environment in the Face of Unfair Chinese Trade Practices." No witnesses have been announced.
Democratic Reps. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, the head of the Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee, and Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, who heads the Trade Subcommittee, asked CBP how much postal service delays "may impact CBP operations and the disbursement of overpayments of duties, taxes, and fees." Such delays "may have devastating impacts on Americans who are waiting patiently for overpayment refunds," Pascrell said in a news release Nov. 24. "Any delays of CBP refunds cannot be tolerated and so our subcommittees want to head off any possible problems."
The top Republicans on the Senate Finance and the House Ways and Means committees asked U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to "start a concrete conversation about which reforms" would address the U.S. concerns about the World Trade Organization's appellate body, so that binding dispute reform can return to Geneva. They also said that the Nov. 30-Dec. 3 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) could be an opportunity to end the paralysis at the WTO.