A new Section 301 investigation on Chinese legacy chips may lead to a tariff regime that could create havoc, according to Sidley Austin's Ted Murphy, who specializes in trade and customs.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative asked the International Trade Commission to study the "distributional effects of goods and services trade and trade policy on U.S. micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises," particularly those that are women-owned, minority-owned (including by a person with a disability or gay- or trans-owned) and those in rural locations.
There will be no changes in 2025 to the countries that can participate in the trade benefits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a spokesperson from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced last week.
A bipartisan, bicameral bill would create a Maritime Security Trust Fund, into which revenues would come from tonnage fees on Chinese-owned and Chinese-flagged ships visiting U.S. ports, special tonnage taxes, light money, and tariffs and duties, including Section 301 tariffs.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative opened an investigation into Chinese manufacturing of legacy (or foundational) semiconductors, "including to the extent that they are incorporated as components into downstream products for critical industries like defense, automotive, medical devices, aerospace, telecommunications, and power generation and the electrical grid."
The U.S. requested three more panels under the rapid response labor mechanism in the USMCA to investigate three Mexican manufacturing facilities. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that the U.S. and Mexico "were not able to agree on a plan for the full resolution of workers’ concerns at their facilities," and so USTR activated the dispute settlement panel under USMCA.
Rep. Don Beyer, a long-time trade liberalization advocate, led a 90-minute hearing making the case against more tariffs in the second Trump administration, and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden slammed the economic impact of campaign tariff promises as the Democrats try to use their bully pulpits in the last week before Republicans will have control at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
A five-year renewal of the Haiti HELP/HOPE trade preferences is the only tariff liberalization legislation that was attached to the federal spending bill that will keep the federal government open through mid-March.
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President Joe Biden called for the creation of a new task force to counter foreign economic coercion, which he said will help the U.S. better respond to coercive measures by “countries of concern,” including China.