The House passed a bill by voice vote Dec. 15 that would reauthorize the Federal Maritime Commission through FY 2027. The reauthorization was originally to be extended through FY 2029 but was shortened to match a recently enacted Coast Guard reauthorization bill (see 2506300066 and 2509180046). The FMC legislation now heads to the Senate for its consideration.

A bipartisan bill was introduced in the House to ask the U.S. trade representative to push Mexico and Canada to establish an investment screening regime and coordinate on "shared threats from investments in strategically important economic sectors and critical infrastructure in North America."

Three House Democrats introduced a resolution last week to revoke the emergency declaration that added 25% tariffs to Indian goods. That 25% tariff is because Indian firms have been buying Russian oil, and is on top of most-favored nation duties and 25% reciprocal tariffs.

Rep. Tim Moore, R-N.C., introduced a bill last week to create a chief critical minerals negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. He was joined by three other Republicans.

Reps. Ami Bera, D-Calif., and Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., sent a Dec. 8 letter to President Donald Trump urging him to provide tariff relief for Japan as it weathers economic coercion from China. In a press release publicizing the letter, they called for "greater support" for Japan due to China's "escalating campaign of economic and military coercion." The letter asked Trump to "reconsider tariffs on Japan" and "send a clear message that the United States rejects the normalization of Beijing’s coercive trade tactics."

The House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill that would give CBP more leeway to share information about suspected counterfeit goods with private companies. The bill would allow CBP to use a "reasonable suspicion" standard to provide nonpublic information about the merchandise generated by an online marketplace, an express consignment operator, a freight forwarder or "any other entity that plays a role in the sale or importation of merchandise into the United States or the facilitation of such sale or importation."

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., introduced a bill on Dec. 5 to establish a program to make direct payments to specialty crop growers and wine producers that experience certain losses due to increased tariff burdens. It was referred to the Agriculture Committee.

A newly introduced bill would allow CBP to self-initiate Enforce and Protect Act investigations of antidumping duty and countervailing duty evasion, and also would require importers challenging EAPA decisions to pay all allegedly evaded duties before filing suit.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., announced a Dec. 10 meeting to mark up bills extending both the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Haiti Economic Lift Program Extension Act.

Almost 75 House members, from both parties, asked the U.S. trade representative to hold Canada accountable for not meeting its dairy commitments under USMCA. The U.S. already brought two panels against Canada over the issue of its tariff rate quota administration, and while it won some arguments in the first dispute, Canada's fixes were ruled adequate in the second (see 2311240002).