Despite the fact that the administration has not opened any formal free trade agreement negotiations in two years, the House Ways and Means Committee chairman said he's confident a trade agreement can be reached with Taiwan.

A new Commerce Department rule aimed at making it easier for certain U.S. technologies to be shared at standards-setting bodies will “undermine” U.S. efforts to protect those sensitive technologies from being acquired by China, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said. Although the rule, issued last week (see 2209080038), sought to allow the participation of U.S. companies in international standards bodies that have members on the Entity List, McCaul said it also undermines U.S. export restrictions. “Companies that are entity-listed are threats to national security, and we need real safeguards to ensure sensitive technology is not transferred to these bad actors,” said McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. believes that a way to preserve the economic benefits of chemical plants and also fight climate change is to impose a carbon border adjustment tax on certain goods.

The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on “The Future of U.S.-Taiwan Trade” on Sept. 14 at 11 a.m. It will be livestreamed on the committee website.

The Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously to approve the nomination of Doug McKalip to be chief agricultural negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The full Senate must vote on his nomination before he can start the job.

Forty-four House members, led by prominent trade skeptic Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., told the administration that they do not support the inclusion of eight of the 13 countries in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework negotiations, and that Congress and outside stakeholders should have "the opportunity to weigh in at the outset on proposals for specific negotiation objectives and, as negotiations continue, on draft text."

Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai that they do not want the World Trade Organization Appellate Body to be resurrected. The WTO no longer has binding dispute settlement, because members can appeal into the void if they do not like the results of a case in Geneva.

Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, introduced a bill whose text was published Aug. 26 that would forbid the transfer of arms to Ukraine unless the administration certifies Ukraine isn't securing or attempting to secure bilateral assistance from China. It has no co-sponsors. Shortly before the invasion of Ukraine, China declared its alliance with Russia had no limits.

The HARD ROCK Act, or the Homeland Acceleration of Recovering Deposits and Renewing Onshore Critical Keystones, would require the Pentagon to report on the benefits and risks of proposed legislation to increase the availability of strategic and critical materials that are sourced primarily from China or Russia. That report also would talk about how it would be helpful to integrate the industrial base with allies "with respect to technology transfer, socioeconomic procurement requirements, and export controls."

The State Department should sanction Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her immediate family for corruption, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in an Aug. 25 letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Cruz said the evidence against Fernandez de Kirchner is “public, credible, and now backed by Argentina’s judicial system,” adding that the Biden administration should “expeditiously impose sanctions” mandated under the 2022 government funding package that passed earlier this year. The State Department didn’t comment.