A bill that would ban the import of seafood of Chinese origin -- which includes fish caught in Alaska but processed in China -- was introduced by Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., and Rick Scott, R-Fla.

A bill that would ban the import of Russian uranium (see 2203280068) 90 days after passage, unless the Energy Department grants a waiver because "no alternative viable source of low-enriched uranium is available to sustain the continued operation of a nuclear reactor," has been recommended by the House Energy Committee.

Not even a month after USDA said it was satisfied that fresh beef from Paraguay is safe to import, Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., introduced a bill to temporarily suspend the importation of Paraguayan beef and establish a working group to analyze the food safety and animal health threat of that beef. The pair has repeatedly introduced bills in the past to ban the import of Brazilian beef, also for food safety and animal health reasons.

A bill introduced by Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, would allow importers who paid Section 232 tariffs on steel or aluminum products that were later granted exclusions to get that money back, even if the deadline for liquidation or reliquidation has passed.

A bipartisan bill that would create an international financial crime center within Homeland Security Investigations, and protect funding for the Trade Transparency Unit at DHS, was recently introduced by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Angus King, an independent from Maine. The Trade Transparency Unit establishes agreements with foreign governments to share import-export data.

A bill that would ban the importation of commodities grown or produced on illegally deforested land was reintroduced in both the House and the Senate. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., are the co-sponsors in the House; Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., are the co-sponsors in the Senate.

A bipartisan, bicameral bill would allow cashmere products made in Mongolia duty-free access to the U.S., as a way of strengthening Mongolia's democracy, its sponsors say.

A bipartisan bill has been introduced that would direct the Commerce Department to designate critical industries, critical goods and critical supply chains, as well as model the effect of disruptions to those supply chains and prepare for those risks.

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Adrian Smith, R-Neb., said in a hallway interview at the Capitol that he thinks there is momentum for an end-of-the-year tax bill to come together. He said he would like a renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program to get attached to such a bill. "I think there's bipartisan interest, and that's key," he said, but he said he's not predicting that it will happen.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, acknowledged in a hallway interview at the Capitol that he has been briefed that the Biden administration will lift Section 301 tariffs from some products as part of its review of the action against Chinese trade abuses.