Virginia's and Maryland's senators, along with members of Congress from both states, asked President Joe Biden to direct the International Trade Commission to open a Section 201 investigation on harm to the Chesapeake Bay fisheries from a surge of crab meat imports from Venezuela.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., sent U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai a letter less than two weeks ahead of election day, asking her to quickly initiate a Section 301 investigation on Chinese support for fentanyl trafficking. Families of those who died from overdoses filed a petition last week (see 2410180039).
There has been some concern that South Africa could be removed from the African Growth and Opportunity Act beneficiary list over its government's lack of support for Ukraine after Russia invaded (see 2307120041). Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who voted against sending financial and military aid to Ukraine earlier this year, is arguing that South Africa should be booted from AGOA coverage if Taiwan's diplomatic office is closed in Pretoria. The South African government has demanded that Taiwan move its office to Johannesburg, the country's most important commercial city. Taiwan has so far refused.
The leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked the Government Accountability Office to produce a report on radioactive isotopes used in industrial applications and cancer treatment, many of which come from Russia.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the lead sponsor of a bill to impose a 30% tariffs on Chinese drones, with a 5% escalation annually, as well as a bill banning Da-Jiang Innovations-made drones on U.S. communications infrastructure, reacted to the news that CBP is detaining DJI drones under suspicion they are made with Uyghur forced labor.
The Seafood Import Monitoring Program covers nearly half of seafood imports, but the majority of SIMP filings later audited were not compliant, frequently because the harvest weight was wrong, or there was an incomplete chain of custody.
The Government Accountability Office, in a report required by the Dodd-Frank Act to assess the effectiveness of tracing regimes for conflict minerals, found the law hasn't reduced violence in the Congo, and may have increased violence around some small gold mines.
Reps. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., and Frank Mrvan, D-Ind., the leaders of the Congressional Steel Caucus, told Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo that fabricated structural steel and prestressed concrete strand need to be subject to 25% Section 232 tariffs, because "bad actors" are exporting the goods to avoid the 25% tariffs on steel.
A group of four senators and 17 House members, all Democrats, asked Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to "establish a national security review process to address risks posed by the manufacture or sale of vehicles built by Chinese firms to Mexico’s people, your national security, and the regional security of North American and Organization of American States nations," and to consult with U.S. officials on the issue of cars and trucks that use sensors and computers that allow them to map where the car is going and locate the people driving them.
Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Calif., introduced legislation that would require mediation "to be exhausted" before port workers can go on strike, she announced Oct. 2. She called the bill the Safeguarding the Supply Chain Act.