More than 25 agriculture groups asked the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees' leaders this week to renew the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program.
Rubio introduced a bill that would change the country of origin for goods so that a company owned by or based in China or any other "foreign adversary" would assign the adversary country of origin to those companies' goods, no matter where the goods were manufactured. The bill is silent on whether that would also apply to U.S.-manufactured goods by Chinese companies, such as Volvo cars.
A bill that would only allow goods made in Palestinian-administered parts of the West Bank to be labeled as originating in the West Bank, and would require that goods made in Israeli settlements to be labeled as Israeli passed the House of Representatives 231-189 late Sept. 18.
Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., along with two other Republicans and another Democrat, recently reintroduced the Stop Importation and Manufacturing of Synthetic Analogues (SIMSA) Act.
Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., introduced a bill to ban the import of Russian palladium and platinum after a mine in his state said that 700 miners would lose their jobs because "responsible and sustainable mining and metals processing [in Montana] is much, much more expensive than that of our competitors in Russia and other areas."
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., recently introduced The Market Economy Sourcing Act, which would impose restrictions on goods covered by free trade agreement benefits, so that nonqualifying content also would be scrutinized.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced a bill that wouldn't allow tariffs to be hiked under Section 232, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Section 301 or any other customs and trade laws or trade agreements unless Congress passes that "new tax into law."
A bill that would effectively overrule the Treasury Department's implementation of the foreign entity of concern restrictions for battery components and critical minerals in electric vehicle tax credits passed the House of Representatives Sept. 12 by a vote of 217-192.
Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce's Health Subcommittee criticized the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products for giving its blessing to so few vaping delivery systems and liquids put in electronic cigarettes, saying that the vast black market of vaping products is benefiting China, and that having so few legitimate products available makes it more dangerous for smokers who are wanting to switch from cigarettes to vaping, which is less harmful to their health.
House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., led a bipartisan trip to Argentina, Paraguay and Chile, where they heard from Argentina and Paraguay how crucial the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program is to the trading relationship.