Congress

The House bill contains softer language than its Senate companion, which called for trade talks with “the goal of entering into a free trade agreement.”

Part of Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) strategy heading into the crucial Michigan Democratic primary next week will be to put a spotlight on the differences between his track record on trade and that of former Vice President Joe Biden’s, Sanders told reporters on Wednesday.

An increase in antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and frequent changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule during the Trump administration have left the U.S. International Trade Commission in need of a significant funding boost, a House appropriator said on Wednesday.

The Senate Finance Committee chair is reopening talks to find a compromise bill to curb presidential tariff authority.

The White House last week formed interagency committees to help facilitate the enforcement of environmental obligations and provisions on trade in auto goods in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

European Parliament members this week met with U.S. trade officials and stakeholders seeking answers about whether the U.S. planned to raise its bound tariffs at the World Trade Organization or withdraw from the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, and they said on Thursday they were reassured but not convinced the U.S. would refrain from either move.

House Ways & Means Committee members on Wednesday were divided along party lines over the merits of the phase-one trade deal with China, with Democrats saying the agreement does little to challenge China’s illicit trading practices and Republicans countering that it is a starting point that includes meaningful reforms.

The Senate should not consider the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement under Trade Promotion Authority fast-track procedure because the Trump administration has failed to comply with the law, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) said on Thursday.

“USMCA cannot end up in the Senate’s legislative graveyard.”