A bipartisan bill was introduced March 1 in the Senate to revoke normal trading relations with Russia "and other countries that invade sovereign nations." The next day, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee introduced his own version, which echoes the House bill, in that it not only revokes permanent normal trade relations, it also suggests that the U.S. delegation to the World Trade Organization work to convince other countries to expel Russia from the WTO.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is saying that Russia should no longer get permanent normal trade relations treatment, which would hike tariffs on Russian imports, doubling the tariffs on imported crude and on caviar, for instance.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said he is interested in revoking Permanent Normal Trading Relations with Russia over the weekend. "The US must respond forcefully & consider the unprecedented nature of the crisis," he tweeted. "Everything should be on the table -- including revoking Permanent Normal Trading Relations w/ Russia. Access to the US market is a privilege, not a right."
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, introduced legislation to end permanent normal trade relations with Russia, and they are seeking to remove Russia from the World Trade Organization as well. “In seeking multiple ways to respond to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, we should close every possible avenue for Russian participation in the world economy,” Doggett said in their Feb. 25 press release. "As Putin undermines the stability carefully built since World War II, he and his oligarch pals should not benefit from the trading system created to ensure that stability and peace.”
Neither importer Cyber Power Systems (USA) Inc. nor the U.S. succeeded in persuading the Court of International Trade that their side was right in a tiff over the country of origin for shipments of uninterruptible power supplies and a surge voltage protector. Judge Leo Gordon, in a Feb. 24 order, denied both parties' motions for judgment, ordering the litigants to pick dates on which to set up a trial.
Supply chain reviews across a multitude of products, all published one year after the executive order on supply chain vulnerabilities, say that concentration in certain countries, especially China, creates both forced labor and trade war vulnerabilities.
The European Commission published a 69-page directive that is meant to be the foundation for European Union legislation requiring that large companies implement due diligence on environmental and social costs in their supply chains. The European Parliament and European Council will vote on the proposal, and if it is adopted, EU countries will have two years to write national laws to implement it.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
A flexible packaging material imported by Amcor Flexibles Kreuzlingen is classifiable as "other" backed aluminum foil, rather than aluminum foil decorated with a pattern or design, the Court of International Trade said in a Feb. 22 decision. Judge Gary Katzmann said that since the text on the foil is communicative text and not a pattern, Amcor's suggested alternative Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading was the proper one, though he rejected the HTS heading most preferred by Amcor.