Nearly 60 agricultural trade groups, companies and ag services providing trade groups asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to schedule confirmation votes for the chief agricultural negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and for the undersecretary of agriculture for trade and foreign agricultural affairs at USDA.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., one of the primary movers behind the Chips Act, told an audience that more domains need policymakers' attention so that they don't wake up to find that China has become dominant in an important emerging technology. He noted that before becoming a politician, he "was in the telecommunication space," and said that realizing that China is dominating 5G with two heavily subsidized champion companies was the "final wake-up call" that engagement and deeper trade with China is not the right way to go.

Republicans on House Oversight and Commerce committees are seeking additional documents and information from TikTok about its data collection activities after previous rounds of questioning left some issues unresolved. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., the top Republican on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the top Republican on the Committee on Oversight and Reform, said they hope more information can aid the Biden administration to mitigate any “potentially negative consequences to U.S. national security” resulting from TikTok’s operation in the U.S.

Two top Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee urged the Biden administration to craft a specific strategy to address the “new era of geostrategic and geoeconomic competition with China.” In a Nov. 17 letter to the White House, Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said the U.S. needs a “comprehensive strategy” to address China’s human rights violations in Hong Kong, its expanding military presence in the South China Sea and its “predatory economic practices.”

Of all the outstanding trade policy options -- new trade promotion authority, requiring Section 301 exclusions, revisions to antidumping law and a customs modernization law -- the head of government relations at Flexport said he thinks customs modernization is the most likely to pass. "I think we are coming on the cusp of something," Darien Flowers said, and said he thinks a bill will be enacted before 2025. Flowers once worked for Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who is leading the bill, though more recently he served on the minority staff of the Senate Commerce Committee.

The Federal Maritime Commission’s proposed definition for a carrier’s “unreasonable” refusal to accommodate U.S. exports is too broad and doesn't meet congressional intent, said Reps. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., and John Garamendi, D-Calif., who led the House’s passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022.

The Congressional Research Service issued a report this month on Iran’s transfer of weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, detailing the specific items that may have been sent and possible next steps for the U.S. The report noted Congress may look to push for more sanctions against any person or entity involved in the sales and is considering the Stop Iranian Drones Act, which would clarify U.S. sanctions policy on Iranian efforts to acquire unmanned drones. The House passed the bill in April (see 2204280007, 2112010019 and 2211020033).

The Biden administration should “show strength” in response to North Korea’s recent string of missile launches into the sea, said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The Kim Jong Un regime “has been given a moment of opportunity by the Biden administration’s weakness on the world stage and the support” of China in “evading sanctions,” McCaul said Nov. 3. “I strongly urge the administration to put forward a strategy that supports our allies, the Republic of Korea and Japan, and begins dealing with Kim from a position of strength.”

The Biden administration should “make full use” of its sanctions and export control authorities against Iran for transferring weapons and other military items to Russia, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said in a Nov. 1 letter to the White House. Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas said Iran has sent hundreds of “lethal Mohajer-6 and Shahed-136 drones, as well as related technology and military advisors” to Russia since it invaded Ukraine, and is reportedly preparing to provide “Fateh-100 and Zolfaghar” ballistic missiles.

The U.S. shouldn’t remove any sanctions against Venezuela in negotiations with the Nicolas Maduro government, Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a letter to the White House released this week. The two lawmakers urged the Biden administration against granting Chevron a license to resume certain oil activities in Venezuela and said it shouldn’t remove any sanctions on Venezuelan nationals, the Venezuelan Central Bank, the Venezuelan Economic and Social Development Bank, and state-owned mining company CVG Compania General de Mineria de Venezuela.