Three Republican senators asked President Joe Biden’s commerce secretary nominee to clarify whether she would consider removing Huawei from the Entity List, saying such a move would hurt U.S. competitiveness. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Ben Sasse of Nebraska said they were concerned when Gina Raimondo declined to tell lawmakers last month whether she would remove export restrictions from Huawei or other Chinese companies (see 2101260047). They also said they will oppose the confirmation of other Biden nominees if they do not outline a clearer, tougher stance on Huawei and other Chinese companies.
The Senate voted 55-42 Jan. 28 to invoke cloture on homeland security secretary nominee Alejandro Mayorkas, setting up a Feb. 1 confirmation vote. Six Republicans voted to move forward on Mayorkas, including the Homeland Security Committee's incoming lead Republican, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio. The chamber also set a Feb. 2 vote to confirm transportation secretary nominee Pete Buttigieg, which he’s likely to easily clear. The Senate Commerce Committee recently advanced Buttigieg 21-3.
Dozens of agriculture trade groups wrote to Senate Finance Committee leaders urging them to confirm Katherine Tai, the administration's nominee for U.S. trade representative. The letter, dated Jan. 26, said, “Ms. Tai is eminently qualified and deeply familiar with the mission of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in opening foreign markets and reducing barriers for U.S. food and agriculture workers and exporters for the benefit of consumers in the U.S. and across the globe. We especially value Ms. Tai’s demonstrated ability to build bipartisan support for trade policies.”
The Senate on Jan. 20 voted 84-10 to confirm Avril Haines to be director of national intelligence. Haines, President Joe Biden’s first confirmed Cabinet nominee, told the Senate earlier this week that China is a “challenge” to U.S. national security and said she would work to counter unfair and illegal Chinese trade measures (see 2101190060). She also said the Biden administration will work more closely with allies as it considers whether to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Iran nuclear program agreement.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a Senate Finance Committee member, said the Treasury Department secretary might be confirmed early next week, if not sooner, and he thinks it's more likely negotiations at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on taxes could progress than will a settlement of the Airbus-Boeing dispute. Treasury leads on the digital services taxes (DST) front, while the U.S. trade representative, whose nomination will not come as quickly, leads on Airbus-Boeing.
The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing Jan. 26 to hear from the nominee to head the Commerce Department, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D).
The Congressional Research Service issued a Jan. 8 report detailing the major agricultural trade issues facing the incoming Congress and highlighting issues related to potential trade deals with the European Union, the United Kingdom, Kenya, India and other allies. The report also provides an overview of non-tariff trade barriers impacting U.S. exporters and details the U.S.’s top export markets over the last several years.
Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Mark Warner, D-Va., said Jan. 4 that they strongly encourage European Union officials “to delay any agreement with China so that the next Congress and president can work alongside them in ending China’s illegal and unfair trade practices and threats to global supply chain integrity.” Some trade negotiators worry that the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (see 2012300030) will allow China to divide and conquer. “America’s go-it-alone approach to trade over the past four years has harmed American workers, consumers, and businesses, all of whom have paid the cost of various punitive tariff campaigns,” the senators said in a statement, adding it also undermined America's global standing and slowed economic growth. “It is encouraging that President-elect [Joe] Biden would like the European Union to wait until he takes office to finalize an investment deal with China. A multilateral approach is necessary to confront China on issues like its abusive labor conditions, unfair and opaque subsidies, forced technology transfers, intellectual property theft, and more,” they said.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., introduced a resolution Jan. 1 that would block a U.S. military sale to Saudi Arabia. The resolution would prohibit the sale of 7,500 “additional full-up-rounds of Paveway IV Weapon Systems” to Saudi Arabia, which was notified to Congress Dec. 22, according to the resolution. The resolution was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The Senate last month voted to reject bipartisan resolutions to block U.S. arms sales to the United Arab Emirates (see 2012100011).
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who said last month he'd be asking for negotiations to begin with Taiwan for a free trade agreement (see 2011190060), is trying to draw attention to the argument. “American workers and manufacturers would have more customers, American consumers would have access to more affordable goods, both economies would grow faster, and America would strengthen its relationship with a key regional ally and increase our economic engagement in the Indo-Pacific region” with an FTA with Taiwan, Toomey said in a press release on Dec. 23. Taiwan is the 11th largest trading partner for the U.S., and the bilateral trade supported about 208,000 jobs in the U.S., according to a Commerce Department estimate for 2015, the most recent available. The resolution has 25 Republican co-sponsors.