The House of Representatives approved its Homeland Security appropriations bill on a 212-203 vote, with five Democrats supporting it. It cannot pass the Senate because many of its provisions only appeal to Republicans.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, called on the Biden administration to act on a surge in Mexican steel imports that are violating the 2019 Joint Agreement on Steel and Aluminum. The surge is driven by the Chinese government, which is routing steel through Mexico to avoid U.S. tariffs, Brown said in a June 25 letter.

Importers have paid more than $160 million in tariffs that would not have existed if the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program were in place just since the House passed its version of GSP renewal in April, according to the Renew GSP Coalition. The group, joined by more than 30 trade groups and nearly 300 firms that import goods subject to GSP, said the House bill and the Senate GSP renewal that was part of a trade package that didn't make it into the Chips Act "are a strong starting point for negotiations."

In a bill that Republicans say is "rightsizing agencies and programs," the division of the Commerce Department that handles antidumping and countervailing duties administration would be cut by 5.7% -- $7 million -- from the current fiscal year. The bill also proposes cutting funding of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative by 8.1% -- $6 million -- from current spending. The International Trade Commission, which manages changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule code, provides independent analysis crucial to the AD/CVD process, and manages the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill product nominating process, would get a 5.7% cut, $7 million less than current spending.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., called on the Biden administration to either start a USMCA dispute or initiate a Section 301 investigation to punish Canada for passing a retroactive tax on digital services.

A bipartisan letter from six senators is asking CBP and USDA to do more to verify that used cooking oil that is imported is truly used, and not blended with virgin palm oil. Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., led the June 20 letter, with support from Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Deb Fischer, R-Neb.

A bipartisan bill has been introduced to prevent companies that receive Chips Act funding from purchasing tools and equipment made by Chinese firms. Some of the Chips Act funding is aimed at reshoring legacy chip production, and China makes equipment to make those less-sophisticated chips. Most advanced chipmaking machinery is made in the U.S., Japan or the Netherlands.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said June 18 that he welcomes language included in the recent Group of Seven (G7) leaders’ communique expressing concern about Russia’s “environmentally unsustainable and unfair trading practices” for seafood.

The House of Representatives last week approved a proposal that would require the administration to write a report to help Congress better understand U.S. reliance on Chinese-made ocean shipping containers, a situation highlighted by supply chain constraints that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

House Foreign Affairs Committee member Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., during a hearing on competition with China in the Western Hemisphere, argued that the shortages experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic show that businesses should move supply chains to the Western Hemisphere.