A new bill with bipartisan support would authorize more U.S. sanctions against those responsible for the military coup and subsequent human rights abuses in Myanmar. The Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability Act of 2021 also would require the State Department to designate an official to coordinate U.S. sanctions against Myanmar and push for more multilateral sanctions among allies.

The State Department should increase sanctions on President Daniel Ortega’s regime in Nicaragua and better coordinate with allies to pressure the country's government, a bipartisan group of 15 senators said in an Oct. 1 letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The agency should specifically look to expand sanctions against senior government and military officials, including those operating the Instituto de Prevision Social Militar, the military’s investment fund, the senators said. If the Ortega regime doesn’t allow democratic change and stop its human rights violations, the U.S. should also push for a review of Nicaragua’s membership in the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement. “The Administration has powerful tools at its disposal,” said the senators, including Bob Menendez, D-N.J., chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “As you evaluate options, we encourage you to expand sanctions” on the regime. A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. "will continue to use the diplomatic and economic tools at our disposal to support Nicaraguans’ calls for greater freedom, accountability, and free and fair elections."

Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced a bill that would require the president to impose sanctions on members of the Taliban who support any terrorist group in Afghanistan, who engage in international narcotics trafficking, or who engage in "serious human rights abuses." The three requirements would begin 90 days after passage, the Sept, 27 bill says. Twenty-six Republican senators co-sponsored the bill.

Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he wasn’t satisfied after the committee’s closed briefing with the Biden administration about the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline last week, adding that the administration “continues its refusal to follow the law.” Senate Republicans have criticized the administration for not imposing more sanctions on the pipeline, arguing that sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act are mandatory (see 2109150017).

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., and 10 other House Republicans introduced a bill Sept. 28 that requires the administration to impose sanctions on foreign buyers of rare earth minerals -- but the bill explicitly exempts sanctions on the import of those minerals into the U.S. “The Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan has given the Taliban control of one of the largest deposits of rare earth minerals in the world, which jeopardizes our national security,” Steube said. “Banning the Taliban and China from profiting off of rare earth minerals is commonsense." He said the bill is designed to prevent Chinese firms from buying rare earths and then processing them and selling them to U.S. buyers.

Finance Committee member Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, bemoaned the fact that the House did not vote on a short-term extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance already passed by the Senate, and told his committee's chairman and top Republican that he would like to be part of bipartisan negotiations to get TAA moving, paired with other trade priorities. Portman, in a letter Sept. 28, also said he worries that passing TAA as part of the Democratic-only soft infrastructure package means the broader trade agenda will be neglected. "As policymakers, I believe we can take steps to support American manufacturing and avoid the root causes for TAA," he said, and argued that renewing the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill and Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, and strengthening antidumping and countervailing duty laws would help.

The House’s Republican-led China Task Force said several of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet officials aren’t grasping the “true threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party” and called for an immediate briefing to Congress on how the administration is dealing with China. The task force members, led by chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, objected to recent comments by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and climate envoy John Kerry, who have advocated for more cooperation with China in certain commercial areas and on climate change, respectively.

Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, said he's had no consultation with staff or principals from the Commerce Committee or the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on how they would like to change their approach on tariffs on European steel and aluminum. The European Union and the U.S. have been negotiating over lifting 25% tariffs on steel and 10% tariffs on aluminum imposed during the Trump presidency, ostensibly to protect national security. If the U.S. and the EU do not reach an agreement, retaliatory tariffs on spirits exports are scheduled to double, to 50%. "We’d love to have this conversation with the administration on how you’d tackle 232s and 301s," he said, particularly in a time when supply chains are strained and inflation is up. But Brady declined to say during a call with reporters on Sept. 29 whether his concerns about the drag on the economy from supply chain challenges and inflation mean that he would argue to lift the tariffs on the EU.

Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Trade Subcommittee chairman and ranking Republican met with World Trade Organization Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala when she was in town last week. Brady and Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., issued a statement that said, "We were delighted to meet with Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at this critical juncture in the history of the World Trade Organization. As we discussed today, our commitment to the success of the WTO is unwavering. However, the United States has long insisted that reform is needed at the WTO, and bipartisan support in Congress for WTO reform is stronger than ever." Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., chairman of the trade subcommittee, said, “It was an honor to lead a bipartisan roundtable discussion with Director-General Ngozi where members shared their support for the WTO and relayed their priorities to Dr. Ngozi directly. I, along with several of my colleagues, emphasized the importance of a WTO TRIPS waiver on COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and tests as well as the critical role that the WTO has to play in protecting the climate. I’m also glad we were able to discuss illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and was encouraged by Dr. Ngozi’s comments about potential progress in dealing with these horrific and destructive practices.”

The House-passed 2022 National Defense Authorization Act includes a provision that would mandate new sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. The amendment, proposed by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, would authorize sanctions against the project, “excluding the national security waiver,” to attempt to stop its completion. The Biden administration has issued some sanctions against the Russia-to-Germany pipeline project (see 2108230057) but has also said more U.S. sanctions wouldn’t stop the pipeline from being completed and would only cause tension with Germany (see 2107220008).