Amendments that would have directed the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to broaden access to Section 301 exclusions and would have liberalized the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program will not get a vote when the America Competes Act gets a vote on the House floor this week, but the Ocean Shipping Reform Act will get a vote. That bill passed the House last year, but has not gotten a vote in the Senate.
Section 301 (too broad)
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 24-30:
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Sandler Travis managing principal Nicole Bivens Collinson said that Sandler Travis is working with companies to develop comments to the federal government on how to implement the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (see 2201210031) because a lot of companies don't want their names on their comments. "We are creating an ad hoc coalition because I know a lot of companies don't want to go on record," partly "because they may be a global operation that has operations in China," she said, while speaking on a recent webinar hosted by the firm. China prohibits companies from adhering to foreign laws that negatively impact the country.
Thirteen groups that represent business interests told House leaders that they strongly oppose the changes to de minimis in the trade title of the America Competes Act, the House answer to the Senate China bill that passed last year.
The Americans for Free Trade coalition, which would like the Section 301 tariffs removed entirely, said Congress must act to spur the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to institute a broad exclusion process for the China tariffs. The group sent a letter to the House speaker and minority leader asking that two amendments on an exclusion process be allowed a vote, and they said they encourage members to vote for the amendments.
Mandating a broad exclusion process for importers of goods subject to Section 301 tariffs, extending the period of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program renewal, reforming the GSP competitive needs limitations, a ban on importing sodium cyanide briquettes, and changes to the Lacey Act are all among hundreds of amendments to the America Competes Act that have been submitted to the Rules Committee, which has the responsibility for shaping the bill that will get a vote on the House floor (see 2201310033).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will update three Section 301 tariff product exclusions in order to align the exclusions with changes made to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule on Jan. 27, USTR said in a notice posted to the agency website Jan. 25. The U.S. will implement broad changes to the HTS on Jan. 27, following amendments to the World Customs Organization's Harmonized System tariff nomenclature (see 2112230046).