Mara Lee

The Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act, which would change how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is able to designate injurious species, and thereby prevent their importation, was reintroduced July 12. The bill, H.R. 6362, was introduced in the Senate by Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and in the House of Representatives by Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. The same bill had been sponsored in the House by Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., in a previous session (see 1607110067). Slaughter died in office this year.

The retaliatory tariffs from the European Union, China, Canada, Mexico and Turkey in response to U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs are being challenged at the World Trade Organization by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. "The U.S. steel and aluminum duties imposed by President Trump earlier this year are justified under international agreements the United States and its trading partners have approved," the USTR said in a July 16 news release. "However, retaliatory duties on U.S. exports imposed by China, the EU, Canada, Mexico and Turkey are completely without justification under international rules.

Sen. Rob Portman will become the latest Republican to try to address the way the administration has wielded Section 232 tariffs, quotas and threats of tariffs. Portman, who represents Ohio and is a former U.S. trade representative, is working on a bill that would change the statute that currently allows the president to take action on whether imports imperil national security while recognizing "the close relation of the economic welfare of the Nation to our national security." The law says that substantial unemployment, loss of skills or investment and declining tax revenues should be considered "in determining whether such weakening of our internal economy may impair the national security."

Over a two-day review at the World Trade Organization on China's trade policies, China insisted that intellectual property violations are no longer a major issue; that its support of state-owned enterprises is no different from Fannie Mae; and that its overcapacity in steel is not a problem for global steel prices, because China only exports 9 percent of its steel. Moreover, China's Commerce Vice Minister Wang Shouwen said, addressing overcapacity needs collective actions and China stands ready to join hands with other countries to tackle this problem together.

Mexico's President Elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador would prefer getting a new NAFTA concluded before he takes office December 1, observers said, but he has most of the same deal-breakers as the current Mexican negotiators. How Lopez Obrador's election will affect NAFTA was one of the focuses of an Atlantic Council panel that met July 12 in Washington. Paula Stern, a former chairwoman of the International Trade Commission, said while the ministers from Mexico and Canada are slated to meet with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in late July, "I do not think there's going to be a lot of movement."

Some leaders on the House Foreign Affairs Committee intend to file legislation to remove China's Most Favored Nation status, according to Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade. Poe said in a July 11 interview that Asia Subcommittee Chairman Ted Yoho and the ranking member on both subcommittees are all in agreement on the legislation. China has had MFN status with the U.S. since 1980, but that was made permanent only in 2001. In 1990, in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Congress included non-binding language suggesting the president rethink MFN for China.

A House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee hearing on the effects of tariffs on rural communities has been scheduled for July 18, subcommittee chairman Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., announced. "Farmers, growers, and ranchers in my home state of Washington and around the country are significantly hurt because products that they are forced to import to stay competitive -- such as agriculture equipment, chemicals, steel, and aluminum -- are now prohibitively expensive," he said. "Adding insult to injury, these same farmers, growers, and ranchers are experiencing severe retaliation through prohibitive tariffs and other measures by their major customers including China, Canada, Mexico, and the EU." No witnesses have been announced. Democrats on House Ways and Means have been pressing for months for administration officials to testify on various trade strategies, including NAFTA renegotiations and China (see 1807110024).

A bipartisan bill that would require congressional approval before tariffs are imposed on national security grounds was introduced in the House of Representatives July 11. Like the so-far-unsuccessful efforts of Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the bill would be retroactive. The Section 232 tariffs and quotas on aluminum and steel would be rolled back after passage, and approval of those actions would be needed before they could resume.

The three Republican lawmakers from South Dakota told President Donald Trump his trade policy could put many agriculture producers on the brink of collapse. While agriculture contributes only about 1 percent of GDP nationally, it's 10 percent of South Dakota's gross state product, according to South Dakota State University. "Recent market uncertainty has already cost South Dakota producers hundreds of millions of dollars, and the delegation hopes this letter serves as a reminder to the president that this industry cannot afford to be further entangled in global trade disputes," a press release on Sen. John Thune's website said. Thune is in the Republican Senate leadership. The three's letter to Trump, dated July 11, also said, "Although you have stated that the agriculture sector will be taken care of through some form of USDA assistance, please keep in mind that U.S. export market share is diminishing daily at an alarming rate, and history has proven that once lost, export markets can take years, even decades to recapture."

It's only a "baby step" toward sparing Canada, Mexico and the European Union from steel and aluminum tariffs, as Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said, but 88 senators issued a rebuke of how the president has justified steel and aluminum tariffs under the guise of national security. Eleven senators -- all Republicans -- voted no, including both senators from Idaho, Wyoming and South Carolina. The last state could be badly damaged if President Donald Trump levies tariffs on imported auto parts under the same national security justification. Corker's home state of Tennessee also would be vulnerable if an auto parts tariff is implemented.