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De Minimis. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rick Scott, R-Fla., wrote to President Biden Feb. 23 to “reiterate our urgent request that the administration utilize broad executive authorities to end duty-free treatment for Section 321 de minimis e-commerce shipments that are facilitating the import of illegal products, goods produced with forced labor, and other contraband to the detriment of U.S. manufacturers, workers, and communities.” Specifically, they called on Biden to (1) ensure the application of the same importer of record and entry summary requirements for Section 321 shipments that already exist for other informal entry imports, (2) direct the Treasury Department to ensure that de minimis is not being used by commercial operators to avoid paying import duties, and (3) exclude from de minimis goods subject to partner government agency import notification requirements, Section 232 and 301 tariffs, and import restrictions under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, as well as products in sectors designated as priority trade issues.
Forced Labor. A dozen Democrat members of the House Ways and Means Committee wrote to senior U.S. trade officials Feb. 16 urging them to “investigate allegations of forced labor in seafood supply chains associated with China and promptly take appropriate action to address these deplorable practices.” Such action could include sanctions against individuals “who are involved in the trade of seafood made with forced labor,” withhold release orders, and the application of the rebuttable presumption set forth in the UFLPA.
Imports. Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis, both Republicans from North Carolina, wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Feb. 19 urging them to “ensure that actions being taken to stem the surge of Mexican steel imports include measures that will immediately and meaningfully limit the volume of Mexican steel concrete reinforcing bar (i.e., rebar) being imported into the United States.” They noted that USTR is currently negotiating a voluntary export monitoring agreement to limit imports of Mexican steel but that rebar is not on the list of covered products even though imports of rebar from Mexico have increased by more than 18 times over less than a decade.
Exports. Nearly 30 members of Congress asked USTR Tai and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a Feb. 20 letter to make agriculture a priority in the Biden administration’s trade agenda by reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers to U.S. agricultural exports. Recommended steps include securing agreements that lower tariffs; ensure sanitary and phytosanitary regulations are science-based, transparent, and consistent; and eliminate the abuse of geographical indicators in the food sector.
Shipping. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., led a briefing for members of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and Chinese Communist Party Feb. 16 focused on efforts to reshore manufacturing and the need to protect global shipping and supply chains. Sherrill also met with carrier representatives to discuss how the global shipping industry is working to adjust its supply chains and shipping lanes in response to attacks on freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.
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