Semiconductors are a major plank of the broad supply chain vulnerability report released by the White House, and the report tries to grapple with the fact that major U.S. manufacturers are reliant on exports to China and that the U.S. and its allies want to maintain a technology edge over Chinese chip manufacturers.
An economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics says there was no embargo on COVID-19 vaccine ingredients that led to slowed production of vaccines in India, as was argued by the CEO of the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, which is in India. "That would be a scandal if it were true. But it is not. Access to new, firm-level supply-chain data reveals there has never been a US export 'embargo' on materials needed to manufacture vaccines. In recent months, in fact, the Serum Institute and other Indian companies have significantly increased imports of vaccine materials from key suppliers in the United States, including Merck Millipore, Thermo Fisher, Cytiva, Pall, ABEC, Sartorius," and others, the paper said.
A Japanese and a Korean economist said that trade tensions between their two countries are no longer really disrupting Korea's semiconductor industry, though they are still increasing costs for some of the Japanese exporters.
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., introduced an amendment May 25 to the Endless Frontier Act that would withhold the additional funding in the bill until the Commerce Department “completes the identification of emerging and foundational technologies as required under section 1758(a) of the Export Control Reform Act.” The Bureau of Industry and Security has identified dozens of emerging technologies but has not identified any foundational technologies (see 2104070026).
A bipartisan bill in the Senate called the "Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act of 2021" will be the topic of a legislative hearing in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee May 26. If passed, it would explicitly prohibit the export of Native American cultural items or archeological finds covered by previous laws, and establish an export licensing system for Native American goods to make sure those exports are prevented. The same bill passed the Senate in December, lead sponsor Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said when the bill was reintroduced. The bipartisan Senate bill also has a bipartisan House equivalent, sponsored by Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M.; Don Young, R-Alaska; Tom Cole, R-Okla.; and Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has proposed that CBP be given the authority to exclude from entry into the U.S. any articles produced by a foreign firm that misappropriated a trade secret, when that theft has been proven by either a court or the International Trade Commission, under Section 337. The amendment, published May 24 in the Congressional Record, notes that the Section 337 process may not provide complete relief "because the foreign person has used or is reasonably likely to use the misappropriated trade secret in the home country of the foreign person or a third country."
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the U.S. and Canada could not reach an agreement on the administration of Canada's dairy tariff rate quotas, so the dispute will be decided by a panel. At issue is the fact that Canada has reserved the large majority of TRQs for Canadian processors, which means that consumer goods produced in the U.S. like ice cream, cheese or yogurt face higher tariffs in Canada because very little of the TRQ is available to Canadian retailers. Even when it's not restricted to processors, the TRQs are reserved for distributors, which means American producers cannot pitch their goods at lower prices directly to retail chains.
Seventeen House Republicans introduced a resolution that opposes removing sanctions on a company and executive connected to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., on May 20 introduced the resolution, which is not binding on the administration, even if it were to pass both chambers. Republicans have been publicly criticizing the decision (see 2105200055).
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and 14 colleagues introduced a joint resolution to halt a recently notified sale of weapons to Israel. "For decades, the U.S. has sold billions of dollars in weaponry to Israel without ever requiring them to respect basic Palestinian rights. In so doing, we have directly contributed to the death, displacement and disenfranchisement of millions,” she said in a press release announcing the resolution.
Lawyers speaking at the Foreign Trade Association’s World Trade Week event said CBP is already drowning because of the consequences of the massive increase in post-importation tariff exclusions, and they're expecting it to get worse. Michael Roll, from Roll & Harris trade law firm, said he's betting that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will reopen the exclusion process for Section 301 tariffs before summer's over. But he expects it will take until late 2021 or early 2022 for exclusions to be granted, which means many imports that entered after exclusions expired, or that never had exclusions, will have been liquidated by the time the importers learn they didn't have to pay the tariff.