A new Silverado Policy Accelerator report says not enough attention has been paid to China's production of mature or legacy semiconductors -- a category the paper calls "foundational" -- and the authors say ceding this market to China "would have significant national and economic security implications."
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who traveled to China with the Senate majority leader and other senators in mid-October, said what he saw there reinforced his desire to pass what he calls a "foreign pollution fee," a tariff on imports that are more carbon intensive than domestic production. He told International Trade Today that he'll introduce the bill "we think later this month, or maybe early next month."
Higher tariffs on some Chinese goods if Congress strips China of its permanent normal trade relations status would not be offset by moving production to other countries, and would instead increase prices for U.S. consumers, hurting low-income households most, according to a study released last week by the National Retail Federation.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is one of the most powerful laws, "in what it's been able to achieve in such a short time," said Howard Mendelsohn, chief client officer for Kharon, a risk intelligence service provider. It was implemented so quickly that almost $2 billion worth of imports has been detained, at least temporarily.
Trade lawyers and importers are wondering how the anti-stockpiling element of a two-year pause on trade remedy circumvention deposits will be enforced.
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.
With the deadline to reach a deal on trade in steel and aluminum with the EU three weeks away, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is talking less about the commitment to reach a deal by the end of the month, and more about "progress."