A bill that would require the State Department to report to Congress on whether China is helping Russians "evade or circumvent United States sanctions or multilateral sanctions and export controls," or whether China is inhibiting onsite export control end-use checks within its borders, passed the House of Representatives on a 394-3 vote on April 27. The Assessing Xi’s Interference and Subversion Act was sponsored by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky. , who said after its passage, "We need a full report on the extent of the collaboration between Russia and China to inform the public and enable lawmakers to begin positioning the U.S. to overcome this geopolitical challenge.” If the bill becomes law, the first report would be due in 30 days, and then reports would be due every 90 days after that.
The top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, who will be one of the negotiators for the compromise China package, expressed pessimism that a version of the bill can be found that can get a majority vote in both the House and Senate. The Senate passed its version, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, with 67 votes; the House version, known as the Competes Act, only had one Republican on board.
Among the 28 motions to instruct for China package negotiations that will be considered next Tuesday and Wednesday in the Senate, two are on sanctions, and one requires that business funding programs document that technology developed at the companies receiving grants don't share sensitive technology with China or Russia.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told senators repeatedly during her testimony at a Commerce Committee hearing that the conference process for the House and Senate's China packages needs to get done as soon as possible, because other countries are offering funds to chipmakers, and companies are looking to plan new plants, because demand is so high. Raimondo said she's spoken with all the American chipmakers, and it's clear to her that if Congress doesn't act, those companies will invest in Germany, Singapore, France or Spain rather than Ohio or Arizona. Raimondo said, "They want to operate in our country, but they cannot wait. They are going to build, and if we don’t act quickly with USICA, they’ll build elsewhere."
A bill that would authorize the administration to confiscate any property valued at more than $5 million from a Russian oligarch who has already been sanctioned for involvement in the Ukraine invasion passed the House 417-8.
The European Parliament has a goal of reaching an agreement with the European Council on how to structure a carbon border adjustment measure by the end of this year, but Domien Vangenechten, from the Brussels location of the E3G think tank, believes that's a "very optimistic deadline.... I'm very skeptical of that happening." He said it could take until mid-2023 or late 2023.
The possibility of passing a ban on the import of goods made with forced labor, first mentioned last year by the EU president (see 2109210030), is slowly advancing through the European Parliament, as a trade committee asked a European Commission official for more information before the legislative language is released.
The EU is aiming for a sixth sanctions package next month, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters in Washington, but there is still not unanimity among the 27 countries on how to treat Russian oil and on what to do about Sberbank.
Exporters told the Federal Maritime Commission that detention and demurrage invoices need to include the earliest return dates containers will be allowed at the terminal, and that "clock-stopping events," such as a lack of appointments to bring a container to the terminal, should also be on the invoices. However, the World Shipping Council said that while the earliest return date is something shippers need to know, they need to know it before a carrier invoice.
A dozen members of the House of Representatives are asking U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to change the administration's strategy on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to move it closer to a traditional trade agreement, including asking partners to lower tariffs for U.S. exports (see 2204120058). The April 12 letter, led by Reps. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., and Carol Miller, R-W.Va., also was signed by the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb.