Lobbying disclosure reports show a lot of corporate interest in the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders Association, the American Apparel and Footwear Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Plumbing Manufacturers International, and many companies, including Nike, Apple, Engie North America, Kraft Heinz, Campbell Soup and VF have been lobbying on the bill, which passed the House almost unanimously and is awaiting a Senate vote. The law would create a presumption that any goods from China's Xinjiang province were made with forced labor. The AFL-CIO and the American Foundry Society also have been lobbying on the bill.
USMCA
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement is a free trade agreement between the three countries, also known as CUSMA in Canada and T-MEC in Mexico. Replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2020, the agreement contains a unique sunset provision where, after six years (in 2026), any of the three parties may decide not to continue the agreement in its current form and begin a period of up to 10 years where USMCA provisions may be renegotiated.
Although members of Congress have complained that Canada's tariff rate quota changes do not comply with USMCA commitments (see 2008280003), a Nov. 20 Congressional Research Service update on USMCA's agricultural provisions says that dairy exports to Canada in the third quarter of 2020 were 10% higher than in the third quarter of 2019 and 9% above the same period in 2018. It also noted that after four years of decline of U.S. exports of poultry and eggs to Canada, poultry meat exports grew 8% in the third quarter this year compared with the same quarter in 2019, but were only 3% higher than in the third quarter of 2018. Egg exports were flat.
House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., has a district full of farms growing grapes, berries, lettuce, artichokes, garlic or other non-commodity crops. His constituents want export markets, so opening trade negotiations is popular in Central California. Panetta, who was interviewed online by the Washington International Trade Association on Nov. 23, said there needs to be a lot of education in the Democratic caucus on why a renewal of Trade Promotion Authority is important before it expires July 1.
Implementation of the USMCA isn't the level of change that's expected to add costs to Toyota, according to Leila Afas, director of international policy for Toyota North America. “We fortunately are in a very good position,” she said in response to a question from International Trade Today during a Nov. 19 webinar hosted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics. She said Toyota sources a lot of its engines and transmissions in the U.S.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Nov. 16. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Nov. 2-6 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The mistrust by the current administration of the de minimis exemption for low-value shipments may provide an opportunity to revise the law and address some inconsistent approaches, Bryan Wolfe, vice president-international trade at Ascena Retail Group, said during the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones virtual conference on Nov. 6. Ascena, the parent company of Ann Taylor, Loft and other brands, is a leading member of Ship Safe Coalition, which advocates for policy changes around de minimis. The coalition expects that some coming changes to the de minimis entry process could be a time for “compromise between eliminating de minimis altogether and keeping it as is,” Wolfe said in his presentation.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Nov. 5. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
There are no imminent plans to continue a “restrained enforcement” period after Jan. 1 for some USMCA requirements, said Queena Fan, director of the CBP USMCA Center. Fan, who said she began in that role about two weeks ago, spoke Nov. 4 during National Association for Foreign-Trade Zones virtual conference. “As of right now, plan still is Jan. 1,” she said. Still, “I'm not saying it's set in stone” if other issues come up and industry concerns should be brought to CBP. The agency is using a period of enforced compliance that ends Jan. 1 for some USMCA provisions, while the auto sector has a longer period of informed compliance that is set to end July 1, 2021.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said a renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program could happen either by packaging the bill with an omnibus spending bill, or, if Congress just passes another temporary spending bill, by attachment to a tax extenders bill.