Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced the U.S.-Cuba Trade Act of 2021 to establish normal trade relations. “Our nation’s embargo on Cuba is an artifact from the 1960s. To continue this outdated, harmful policy of isolation would be a failure of American leadership,” he said in a Feb. 5 press release. The U.S.-Cuba Trade Act of 2021 would repeal the Helms-Burton Act and the Cuban Democracy Act, and other provisions that affect trade, investment and travel with Cuba. Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., are cosponsors of the bill. Members of Congress have been introducing bills to lift the embargo for more than 10 years.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, put a hold on the commerce secretary nominee over the future of restrictions on Huawei. Gina Raimondo, in written responses to Senate Finance Committee members' questions, said, “I currently have no reason to believe that entities on those lists [the Entity List and the Military End User List] should not be there. If confirmed, I look forward to a briefing on these entities and others of concern.” That was not definitive enough for Cruz, who tweeted Feb. 4 he would lift the hold when the Biden administration “commits” to keeping Huawei on the Entity List. Cruz does not have the power to prevent the Senate from bringing the nomination for a vote, but he could filibuster if there are not at least 60 votes to cut off debate. Most Finance Committee Republicans voted to advance her nomination, so it's quite possible a filibuster could be avoided. Raimondo's nomination is not expected to advance before or during the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.
Alejandro Mayorkas was confirmed by the Senate to be Department of Homeland Security secretary, on a 56-43 vote. All Democrats and independents who caucus with Democrats voted for confirmation, as did six Republicans.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., joined by fellow committee members Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., and Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., asked the Biden administration to reinstate Magnitsky Sanctions against Dan Gertler, an Israeli businessman with mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he doesn't know when Katherine Tai, the U.S. trade representative nominee, might get a hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee. He told reporters on a press call Feb. 2 that it's likely that Finance will question the Health and Human Services secretary nominee ahead of Tai. He also said he doesn't know how the impeachment trial for Donald Trump could affect the timing. Grassley said he supports President Joe Biden's approach of trying to get Europe, other countries in North America, South Korea and Japan “on the same wavelength with regard to China,” and when he has the opportunity to talk to Tai, he'll be asking about “how long they're going to wait to follow up on phase two” of trade talks with China. He said he doesn't expect the issue of Section 301 exclusions to be on his list of topics to bring up. “I just haven’t had a lot of contact in the last six months with these business interests [with expired exclusions], maybe my staff has,” he said.
Three Republican senators asked President Joe Biden’s commerce secretary nominee to clarify whether she would consider removing Huawei from the Entity List, saying such a move would hurt U.S. competitiveness. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Ben Sasse of Nebraska said they were concerned when Gina Raimondo declined to tell lawmakers last month whether she would remove export restrictions from Huawei or other Chinese companies (see 2101260047). They also said they will oppose the confirmation of other Biden nominees if they do not outline a clearer, tougher stance on Huawei and other Chinese companies.
The Senate voted 55-42 Jan. 28 to invoke cloture on homeland security secretary nominee Alejandro Mayorkas, setting up a Feb. 1 confirmation vote. Six Republicans voted to move forward on Mayorkas, including the Homeland Security Committee's incoming lead Republican, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio. The chamber also set a Feb. 2 vote to confirm transportation secretary nominee Pete Buttigieg, which he’s likely to easily clear. The Senate Commerce Committee recently advanced Buttigieg 21-3.
Dozens of agriculture trade groups wrote to Senate Finance Committee leaders urging them to confirm Katherine Tai, the administration's nominee for U.S. trade representative. The letter, dated Jan. 26, said, “Ms. Tai is eminently qualified and deeply familiar with the mission of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in opening foreign markets and reducing barriers for U.S. food and agriculture workers and exporters for the benefit of consumers in the U.S. and across the globe. We especially value Ms. Tai’s demonstrated ability to build bipartisan support for trade policies.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a Senate Finance Committee member, said the Treasury Department secretary might be confirmed early next week, if not sooner, and he thinks it's more likely negotiations at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on taxes could progress than will a settlement of the Airbus-Boeing dispute. Treasury leads on the digital services taxes (DST) front, while the U.S. trade representative, whose nomination will not come as quickly, leads on Airbus-Boeing.
The Senate on Jan. 20 voted 84-10 to confirm Avril Haines to be director of national intelligence. Haines, President Joe Biden’s first confirmed Cabinet nominee, told the Senate earlier this week that China is a “challenge” to U.S. national security and said she would work to counter unfair and illegal Chinese trade measures (see 2101190060). She also said the Biden administration will work more closely with allies as it considers whether to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Iran nuclear program agreement.