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If true, this is one of the most cynical power plays I have ever seen. U.S. multinationals operating in China appear to have inserted language in a bill aimed at helping America compete with China by including a provision that might do the exact opposite. Stripping out Section 301 would remove one of the U.S. government’s most potent trade tools.
WASHINGTON — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today wrote to Members of the House Ways and Means Committee regarding renewed efforts in Congress to “pass legislation to increase our nation’s competitiveness with China in the face of decades of economic espionage, theft of trade secrets and Intellectual Property (IP), state support for key industries, and forced technology transfers by the Chinese government.” In the letter, CPA highlights how a provision in the Senate’s China bill would in fact be a gift to the Chinese Communist Party. Read the full letter here.
“While we wholeheartedly support efforts to counter the economic threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), we regret to convey that Division G of the Senate’s U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), titled “The Trade Act of 2021″, is in fact a gift to the CCP, and would have the effect of disarming our country’s leverage to deal with China’s efforts to undermine U.S. economic and national security, while providing billions of dollars to multinational importers of Made-in-China merchandise and punishing companies that responsibly shifted their sourcing out of China,” the letter states.
CPA’s letter documents how provisions in the Senate bill would disarm America’s trade defenses and ensure a relentless flood of imports from China if passed.
“The Trade Act of 2021 damages U.S. economic and national security by:
In the letter, CPA also highlighted legislation introduced by U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee. Chairman Blumenauer’s Import Security and Fairness Act would narrow an import loophole, known as de minimis, that is used by non-market economies and counterfeiters to ship hundreds of millions of packages valued under $800 into the United States without inspection, information disclosure, or duty payment. Additionally, Chairman Blumenauer introduced legislation that would modernize and reauthorize the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) programs, the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB), and the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 (AMCA).
“Fortunately, Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Chairman of the Trade Subcommittee, has introduced legislation that would modernize GSP and MTB, greatly improving these programs. Important new criteria are introduced for GSP, without stripping Presidential authority,” the letter highlights. “MTB will be immeasurably improved by ensuring the original policy goal – assistance for American manufacturers – is the focus. Currently, importers of finished goods who compete with American manufacturers are benefiting from unwarranted tariff cuts.
“In addition, Chairman Blumenauer has introduced critical legislation, the Import Security and Fairness Act, to reform Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930. This is must pass legislation to stop the rampant exploitation of the de minimis threshold, which allows counterfeit and dangerous goods flowing with little scrutiny from China. Currently, over two million packages per day enter the United States pursuant to Section 321. The majority of these are from China, and evade all taxes and tariffs that would otherwise be applicable.”
Read CPA’s full letter here.
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