U.S. Chamber of Commerce

International Policy Update

June 3, 2022

Chamber to Host CEO Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles

U.S., Taiwan Launch New Trade Initiative

Bipartisan Innovation Act Conference Work Continues

CBP Expected to Release Importer Guidance on UFLPA Soon

Commentary

Tariffs Are Raising the Cost of Summer Essentials — Time to Cut the Tax on Summertime Fun

Chamber to Host CEO Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will partner with the U.S. Department of State to host the Fourth CEO Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles on June 7-9. This is the official private sector forum of the IX Summit of the Americas, during which the U.S. government will host heads of state and business leaders from the Western Hemisphere.

The CEO Summit of the Americas will leverage the power of the private sector to bring together diverse business leaders—including those representing small and medium-sized enterprises—from the U.S. and across the hemisphere to drive innovative, practical solutions to the nations of the Americas.

The Summit will feature a series of conversations on topics including:

• Championing a pro-growth trade policy;
• Regional coordination to strengthen health economies across the Americas;
• Advancing an action plan for digital transformation;
• Transitioning to more sustainable and resilient energy sources;
• Enhancing rule of law; and
• Strengthening inclusion in regional trade and supply chains, with a focus on small and medium enterprises.

Find further information and register for the CEO Summit here.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Shilpan Amin, President, International, General Motors
• Marco Antonio Araujo, CFO, Coca-Cola Latin America
• Sherry Bahrambeygui, CEO, PriceSmart
• Nick Clegg, President, Global Policy, Meta
• Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director, International Trade Centre
• Pilar Cruz, Chief Sustainability Officer, Cargill
• Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles
• Sarah Jane Gunter, Vice President Latam Consumer Business, Amazon
• Secretary John Kerry, White House Special Envoy for Climate
• Rodrigo Kede Lima, Corporate VP and President for Latin America, Microsoft
• Luis Laguerre, KPMG/AACCLA Chair
• Bruce MacMaster, CEO, ANDI
• Carlos Murillo, Regional President, Latam, Pfizer
• Andrew Nocella, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, United Airlines
• Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google
• Catherine Powell, Global Head of Hosting, Airbnb
• Kathleen Quirk, President, Freeport-McMoran
• Mauricio Ramos, CEO Millicom
• Erick Scheel, CEO, PepsiCo Beverages Latin America
• Ernesto Torres Cantu, CEO LatAm, Citi
• Guillermo Vogel, Vice Chair, Tenaris-Mexico

For further information, please contact Senior Vice President for the Americas Neil Herrington (nherrington@uschamber.com).

U.S., Taiwan Launch New Trade Initiative

On May 31, the U.S. and Taiwan announced a new trade initiative to promote trade in areas such as clean energy, labor rights, digital trade, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and non-market practices. The U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade will seek to deepen the U.S.-Taiwan trade and economic relationship and advance mutual priorities. The first meeting is expected to be held later this month in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Chamber tweeted:

“Taiwan is an important economic and commercial partner of the U.S. We welcome today’s announcement that the administration will work to strengthen our trade and investment relationship.”

The new initiative will cover trade facilitation, regulatory practices, agriculture, anti-corruption, small and medium-sized enterprises, digital trade, labor rights, the environment, standards, state-owned enterprises, and non-market practices.

Additionally, the Department of Commerce is planning to launch a separate technology and investment focused dialogue with Taiwan. This effort is likely to cover semiconductor trade and export controls, among other areas. These two bilateral initiatives reflect U.S. efforts to deepen economic ties with Taiwan after the U.S. and other regional economies launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework without Taiwan’s participation.

For further information, please contact Senior Vice President for Asia Charles Freeman (cfreeman@uschamber.com).

Bipartisan Innovation Act Conference Work Continues

In recent weeks, the Chamber has held meetings with more than half of the 107 conferees at both the member and staff level and will continue to engage in efforts to shape the “Bipartisan Innovation Act,” the bill being negotiated by a conference committee drawing from the Senate-passed “U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA)” and the House-passed “America COMPETES Act.”

According to a schedule published by Punchbowl News, conference committee staff directors are aiming to close out items this week. It is our understanding that negotiations to date — especially on the trade front — have been slow despite exchanges of offers in other areas. It remains to be seen whether committee chairs and ranking members will then be able to conclude outstanding issues by next week.

Landing zones on the renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences and a new Miscellaneous Tariff Bill are thought to be within reach and remain the least contentious trade items to be worked out. Staff have used these items as a starting point in the hopes of generating positive momentum and broader cooperation around other pieces. However, these issues could also be resolved in an end-of-year trade package if the conference falls through.

House Democrats appear to be holding firm on demands to include some version of Trade Adjustment Assistance in a final package, which has been met with predictable opposition from Republicans insisting on a market-opening complement, such as a renewal of Trade Promotion Authority.

The Chamber has also been engaged with congressional offices on elements in America COMPETES that would alter U.S. trade laws relating to antidumping and countervailing duties and de minimis as well as the Country of Origin Labeling Online Act language in the Senate bill. We also continue to push for USICA-based language establishing a modified Section 301 exclusion process. The Chamber’s positions on these and other issues are outlined here.

The ground remains fluid on the outbound investment screening front, which remains a principal concern of Chamber members. The Chamber continues to wait for new text from the authors of the National Critical Capabilities Defense Act, but only a high-level conceptual draft has been released to date, and it continued to hint at a very broad scope. Some leadership staff agrees that time is tight and that — without new text — the window is closing for airdrops. The Chamber’s messaging with conferees continues to be centered on opposition to the NCCDA as written, pointing to its ambiguity and a need to instead prioritize the implementation of Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act and Export Control Reform Act of 2018.

There could be movement in the export control space more generally from some House Republicans, specifically those on the Foreign Affairs Committee, who appear to feel excluded from the current process. The Chamber continues to meet with committee staff on this issue as well as to reiterate our opposition to an amendment package previously introduced by HFAC ranking member Michael McCaul. Chamber staff may gain more visibility as to what may be under consideration in the weeks ahead.

More broadly, leadership may need the support of up to 40-50 House Republicans to compensate for progressive votes that may be lost if that caucus’s priorities fail to survive the conference process. On the Senate side, the 19 Republicans who voted in favor of USICA remain fairly unified and signal they are reluctant to make changes to the bipartisan USICA.

For further information, please contact Director for International Policy Isabelle Icso (iicso@uschamber.com).

CBP Expected to Release Importer Guidance on UFLPA Soon

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) held the first of its three planned webinars on Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) implementation this week. The next ones will be held on June 7 and June 16, respectively. See this site for registration details.

As reported earlier, the law requires an interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force — chaired by the Homeland Security Department in consultation with the Commerce Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — to submit to Congress a comprehensive implementation strategy. This strategy is set to be released on June 21, which is the same day the rebuttable presumption takes effect.

However, CBP is expected to release importer guidance within the next week, which will help businesses prepare for the law’s implementation. This guidance will complement the task force’s broader implementation strategy slated to come out later this month.

The Chamber continues to track and engage in these developments and hopes to hold an informational webinar following the release of the full implementation strategy on June 21.

For further information, please contact Director for International Policy Isabelle Icso (iicso@uschamber.com) and Director of the Chamber’s China Center Don Giolzetti (dgiolzetti@uschamber.com).

Commentary

Tariffs Are Raising the Cost of Summer Essentials — Time to Cut the Tax on Summertime Fun

U.S. Chamber (May 27)