When the leaders of the Congressional Steel Caucus, members of Congress who advocate for steelmakers, start talking about how to wind down Section 232 tariffs on European steel, you know that the 25% tariff on steel from the European Union is unlikely to continue.
A Section 301 investigation into illegal timber trade in Vietnam will result in no tariffs on Vietnamese goods, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said Oct. 1. Many stakeholders argued against a punitive approach on the issue (see 2011160027), including groups that fight the harvest of rare wood, such as the Sustainable Furnishings Council and the Environmental Investigation Agency.
The U.S. Trade Representative announced that Vietnam has committed to keep illegally traded timber out of the supply chain, so no trade action is warranted as a result of the Section 301 investigation. Vietnam agreed to improve customs enforcement at the border with high-risk source countries, and to collaborate on enforcement with those countries, in addition to other verification and seizure practices.
A trade expert who once worked in Hong Kong said the joint statement issued after the U.S.-European Union Trade and Technology Council inaugural meeting shows that prospects for a trans-Atlantic united front against China aren't promising.
Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., introduced a bill that is a companion to a Senate bill (see 2108130050) that would impose a 10 cents-per-pound excise tax on virgin plastic resin produced domestically or imported. The tax would increase to 15 cents per pound in 2023 and 20 cents in 2024. For imported items, if the importer did not estimate how much virgin plastic was contained in single-use plastic goods, the tariff would be 10% of the value of the item. However, the U.S. government could estimate a lower amount based on an estimate of resin in the predominant method of production of the item.
Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, said he's had no consultation with staff or principals from the Commerce Committee or the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on how they would like to change their approach on tariffs on European steel and aluminum. The European Union and the U.S. have been negotiating over lifting 25% tariffs on steel and 10% tariffs on aluminum imposed during the Trump presidency, ostensibly to protect national security. If the U.S. and the EU do not reach an agreement, retaliatory tariffs on spirits exports are scheduled to double, to 50%. "We’d love to have this conversation with the administration on how you’d tackle 232s and 301s," he said, particularly in a time when supply chains are strained and inflation is up. But Brady declined to say during a call with reporters on Sept. 29 whether his concerns about the drag on the economy from supply chain challenges and inflation mean that he would argue to lift the tariffs on the EU.
The House voted to provide more time for a Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking report on fentanyl and other synthetic opioid trafficking, giving the commission 390 days rather than 270 days to produce its first report on the costs and benefits of approaches to halting the trafficking of these drugs from China, Mexico, India or other countries of concern. The bill passed the House 410-14 on Sept. 28. Reps. David Trone, D-Md., and Fred Upton, R-Mich., introduced the bill in August.
A bill that would require foreign sellers on e-commerce platforms to accept personal jurisdiction in the U.S. and allow themselves to be served in a lawsuit passed in the House Judiciary Committee on Sept. 29. The SHOP SAFE ACT also requires e-commerce platforms to confirm that their sellers provide legitimate contact information. Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., as he introduced the bill, said, "The bill also encourages platforms to monitor and screen for known indicia of counterfeiting and to keep repeat infringers from reappearing on their platforms. These measures assess a platform’s actions from a reasonableness standard, taking into account that different-sized platforms will have different resources and capabilities to devote to these efforts."
Although continuing the treatment of customs brokers' pass-throughs to CBP in bankruptcy is not controversial, lawmakers say, the bill that would make this treatment permanent has a ways to go to be able to get a vote before the temporary protection expires.
European Union Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters that because of the work that needs to happen within the EU to get it done before retaliatory tariffs are scheduled to double, the U.S. and the EU need to reach an agreement by the beginning of November. Tariffs on the retaliation list are supposed to double on Dec. 1. Dombrovskis said this on Bloomberg TV; he also suggested to reporters that the import and export monitoring that was part of the removal of steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico is something that the EU is open to.