Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., along with two other Republicans and another Democrat, recently reintroduced the Stop Importation and Manufacturing of Synthetic Analogues (SIMSA) Act.
Mara Lee
Mara Lee, Senior Editor, is a reporter for International Trade Today and its sister publications Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. She joined the Warren Communications News staff in early 2018, after covering health policy, Midwestern Congressional delegations, and the Connecticut economy, insurance and manufacturing sectors for the Hartford Courant, the nation’s oldest continuously published newspaper (established 1674). Before arriving in Washington D.C. to cover Congress in 2005, she worked in Ohio, where she witnessed fervent presidential campaigning every four years.
China-dependent supply chains developed because of the demands of retailers to sell products at low price points, a panelist explained at the Commerce Department's first supply chain summit, but the company is working to change that.
The administration rebranded two pending rulemaking processes and revived one that was abandoned in 2021 to address the compliance risks of de minimis shipments as well as shrink the volume of direct-to-consumer imports.
Imports from China of electric vehicles, EV batteries, solar cells and wafers, face masks, needles and syringes, critical minerals and steel and aluminum will all be hiked Sept. 27, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Sept. 13, as part of a longer-term modification of Section 301 duties.
Tariffs on imports from China of electric vehicles, EV batteries, solar cells and wafers, face masks, needles and syringes, critical minerals and steel and aluminum will go up Sept. 27, with more Section 301 tariff hikes planned for Jan. 1, 2025, and Jan. 1, 2026.
It's not clear whether removing all Chinese goods or apparel from de minimis would shrink the universe of duty-free imports the most, but the latter approach, combined with a restriction for Section 301 tariff targets, may be gaining support on the Hill.
A bill that would effectively overrule the Treasury Department's implementation of the foreign entity of concern restrictions for battery components and critical minerals in electric vehicle tax credits passed the House of Representatives Sept. 12 by a vote of 217-192.
Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce's Health Subcommittee criticized the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products for giving its blessing to so few vaping delivery systems and liquids put in electronic cigarettes, saying that the vast black market of vaping products is benefiting China, and that having so few legitimate products available makes it more dangerous for smokers who are wanting to switch from cigarettes to vaping, which is less harmful to their health.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told podcast hosts at Bloomberg News that the U.S. and other countries that lost manufacturing jobs as China ramped up its exports from 2000 to 2019 are saying: "We will not tolerate, we cannot tolerate a China Shock 2.0."
A bill that passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee that would make consumer tax credits for electric vehicles more restrictive is on the schedule for a vote next week.