Michael Nemelka, the nominee for deputy U.S. trade representative, said that the first case under USMCA could begin in the fall, if consultations with Canada or Mexico fail. Nemelka, who currently works as a special adviser to the USTR, said that they are reviewing complaints this month. After that, staff will consult with the congressional committees of jurisdiction about which complaints would make the best cases. Then a consultation process would begin.
House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Kevin Brady, R-Texas, one of the four players directing the shape of a USMCA technical corrections bill, said that the “language was a little different than the intent” when it came to the treatment of foreign-trade zones in USMCA's implementing bill. Brady and the leaders of the Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees see getting a technical corrections bill passed as “a high priority,” he said in a recent interview.
New appointees were named to the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee and six Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees by the secretary of agriculture and the U.S. trade representative. The 25 appointees will serve until 2024.
Jon Perdue is the new executive director of CBP’s Office of Trade Relations, Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan said during the June 15 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee. Perdue was previously with the Caribbean and Latin America desk of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Valarie Neuhart, previously acting executive director, will continue to be deputy executive director at the Office of Trade Relations, a CBP spokesperson said.
The Senate Finance Committee will consider the nomination of Michael Nemelka to be a deputy U.S. trade representative for investment, services, labor, environment, Africa, China and the Western Hemisphere at a hearing July 21. Nemelka is currently a special adviser to USTR Robert Lighthizer.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said during a conference call with reporters July 17 he doesn't know if the U.S. trade representative and Canada have resolved their differences over Canadian aluminum imports. The USTR has said that he was consulting with Canada about a surge of imports. Some news outlets reported three weeks ago that he would re-impose 10% tariffs on aluminum, but so far that has not happened (see 2006250048).
U.S. agencies are exploring ways to enforce industry compliance with mitigation agreements with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., despite travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, a top Justice Department official said. The pandemic has specifically caused challenges around in-person site visits, which help enforcement agents ensure companies are adhering to CFIUS conditions for an approved investment, John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security, said.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. recently opened investigations into “dozens” of completed deals involving Chinese investments that were not officially notified to CFIUS, a July 15 report from The Capitol Forum said. The deals -- which mostly took place within the past five years -- involved Chinese investments in U.S. technology, heavy industry and entertainment companies, the report said. Since May, CFIUS has “substantially” increased scrutiny of non-notified deals, the report said. The Treasury Department did not comment. Industry has seen a notable increase in CFIUS scrutiny on transactions involving medical supplies and sensitive technologies, especially those associated with Chinese investors (see 2005290027). CFIUS is also closely monitoring Chinese investors trying to take advantage of companies struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2006230057).
The House Appropriations Committee has approved a bill that would increase trade funding at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Bureau of Industry and Security and the International Trade Administration. The committee voted July 14, and now goes to the full House. The bill, which passed the committee only with Democrat votes, and so may not be tolerable to the Republicans who control the Senate, increases funding to BIS by $9.6 million, to $137.6 million. It increases funding to USTR by $1 million, to $55 million, and ups funding to the International Trade Administration by $21.4 million, to $542.4 million. Spending for CBP will be part of a Department of Homeland Security bill, and the amount has not been determined yet.
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee’s Secure Trade Lanes Subcommittee Export Working Group issued draft recommendations this week ahead of the COAC’s July 15 meeting. The group recommends that CBP review, compare and eliminate any “duplicative and unnecessary” data elements between the Electronic Export Information and Air, Ocean, and Rail manifest. The group also recommended that the duplicative data elements only be required from the owner of the data “since it is the most timely and accurate source,” and recommended that CBP “provide a data-flow and process-flow map” for government agencies. The map would define where data originates, “such as the EEI, the Manifest, and Departure messages,” the group said.