President Joe Biden on April 17 called for a “tripling” of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum, urging the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to “consider” the increase from the current average 7.5% rate in its ongoing review of Section 301 tariffs.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai testified April 16 before the House Ways and Means Committee regarding the Biden administration’s trade policy agenda for 2024. She expressed support for upcoming legislation to renew the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and to close the de minimis imports loophole (see 2404160029), and she detailed some of the administration’s values and aims for the upcoming year. “Our approach is one that addresses and advances the interests of all parts of our economy and does not pit Americans against Americans,” she said.
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The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative seeks more comments on how USMCA rules of origin are affecting trade in automotive goods, as it compiles an annual report it will send to Congress by July 2025. USTR will hold a hearing on its investigation on Oct. 8, with requests to appear due Sept. 24 and prehearing briefs due Sept. 26. Post hearing briefs are due Oct. 16, and all other written submissions are due Nov. 18, USTR said. Automakers and their suppliers told USTR in comments on the agency’s 2024 report on the same issue that not having a form for certificate of origin has made compliance more difficult, among other things (see 2402050048).
Ahead of congressional hearings featuring U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s senior vice president said on an April 15 press call that his organization is concerned about the “laissez faire” approach he said the Biden administration has been taking in negotiating against foreign trade barriers and enforcing existing U.S. trade agreements.
A new bill from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's top Republican and a Democratic member would renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade preference program for 16 years, offer more flexibility on country eligibility reviews, and soften the high-income graduation rules.
Five members of House Ways and Means Committee and the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific introduced a bill that would set up an ‘‘Indo-Pacific Trade Strategy Commission’’ to make recommendations to Congress on a comprehensive trade policy in the region, and direct the International Trade Commission to produce a report on how the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade agreement and China's Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership multilateral free trade agreement affect U.S. exports and growth opportunities in the Indo-Pacific. The report also would address differences between the TPP successor, RCEP, and the USMCA, and the impact of Asian regional trade agreements on U.S. supply chain resiliency, and how they affect China's role in key global supply chains.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said she hopes "we can announce the result of [the Section 301] review soon," though she later declined to say whether that would be when she appears next week before the House and Senate committees that oversee her office.
Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich, joined by four other Michigan Democrats, two Indiana Democrats and Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., whose district includes a major Mercedes plant, asked the Biden administration to prevent Chinese cars from entering the U.S.
A bill requiring a study on gender bias and regressive effects of the U.S. tariff system was introduced April 10, and has been endorsed by the New Democrat Coalition Trade Task Force, which is led by one of the bill's co-sponsors, Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Texas.