Chairman Neal Touts Trade Title of China Competition Bill - Ways and Means Committee
The legislation is the strongest proposal in Congress to improve U.S. competitiveness and support American workers
WASHINGTON, DC — Today (1/25/22), House Democrats unveiled the America COMPETES Act of 2022, which includes the American Worker and Trade Competitiveness Act, a Ways and Means Committee title containing critical pro-worker provisions and addressing key problems with the United States-China trading relationship. Notably, the legislation includes long-overdue reauthorization and modernization of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) programs, as well as extensions to and reforms of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) legislation.
“The Senate’s legislation on this matter falters both technically and ideologically – it violates the Constitution, overlooks the challenges facing today’s workers, and should be tougher on China,” said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA). “I cannot vote in favor of a bill that ignores the prerogatives of the House, specifically that revenue measures must originate in this chamber. The America COMPETES Act not only corrects that fundamental flaw, it also ensures American workers, manufacturers, and farmers have all the tools they need to succeed in the world economy. This legislation is the boldest, best option we have to stand up to China’s harmful actions and support American workers, and I look forward to discussing these proposals further during our conference on the package with the Senate.”
The Ways and Means provisions:
• Reauthorize and modernize TAA programs;
• Extend and reform the GSP and MTB legislation;
• Strengthen U.S. international trade laws to stop unfairly-traded goods from exploiting the de minimis import threshold;
• Empower the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to take strategic steps to improve supply chain resiliency;
• Strengthen U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws to protect American workers and combat China’s unfair, anti-free market trade practices that distort the global market;
• Reaffirm the U.S. government’s commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO); and
• Allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection to update its staffing model to better respond to the challenges of the modern trading system.
A one pager on the Ways and Means provisions is available HERE.
Full text of the legislation can be found HERE.
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DHS Advances Biden-Harris Efforts to Stop Flow of Goods Produced by Forced Labor - Department of Homeland Security
Release Date: January 24, 2022
Requests Public Input to Implement Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and Block Importation of Goods Produced by Forced Labor in the People’s Republic of China
WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced, as part of its implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), that it will seek public input to inform the Department’s continued efforts to prohibit goods from being imported into the United States that are produced with forced labor in the People’s Republic of China, including in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
“As part of our efforts to advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s priority to eradicate forced labor from U.S. supply chains, we are taking an important first step today to implement the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act,” said Secretary Mayorkas. “Every day, the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection ensures that goods made with forced labor are not able to enter the U.S. supply chain, and I am proud to work alongside the world’s leading forced labor investigators in their mission to protect human rights and international labor standards. I look forward to hearing from our stakeholders as we continue to work closely to protect our vital trade ecosystem and end these horrific practices around the world.”
The UFLPA prohibits goods from being imported into the United States that are either produced in China’s Xinjiang province or by certain entities identified in the forthcoming UFLPA enforcement strategy, unless the importer can prove by clear and convincing evidence that the goods were not produced with forced labor. After receiving comments, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force will conduct a public hearing and develop a strategy for supporting enforcement of section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended. DHS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will issue guidance for importers.
DHS is focused on combating the horrific practices of sex trafficking and forced labor through close partnerships with stakeholders, information sharing, and enforcement actions. As part of the Department’s victim-centered approach, DHS agencies, offices, and experts are committed to providing support and necessary services to victims and seeking justice on their behalf. The Department, through its Blue Campaign, also continues to educate the public, law enforcement, and other industry partners to recognize and report the indicators of human trafficking. Read more about DHS’s work on human trafficking and forced labor here: DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking
The request for public comment published in the Federal Register today, January 24, 2022. Comments will be accepted for 45 days. Individuals may submit comments by following the instructions in the Federal Register notice.
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USITC Makes Determinations in Five-Year (Sunset) Review Concerning Hydrofluorocarbon Blends from China - U.S. International Trade Commission
The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) today determined that revoking the existing antidumping duty order on imports of hydrofluorocarbon blends from China would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time.
As a result of the Commission’s affirmative determination, the existing order on imports of this product from China will remain in place.
Chair Jason E. Kearns, Vice Chair Randolph J. Stayin, and Commissioners David S. Johanson, Rhonda K. Schmidtlein, and Amy A. Karpel voted in the affirmative.
Today’s action comes under the five-year (sunset) review process required by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. See the attached page for background on these five-year (sunset) reviews.
The Commission’s public report Hydrofluorocarbon Blends from China (Inv. No. 731-TA-1279 (First Review), USITC Publication 5278, February 2022) will contain the views of the Commission and information developed during the review.
The report will be available by February 28, 2022; when available, it may be accessed on the USITC website at: https://www.usitc.gov/commission_publications_library.
BACKGROUND
The Uruguay Round Agreements Act requires the Department of Commerce to revoke an antidumping or countervailing duty order, or terminate a suspension agreement, after five years unless the Department of Commerce and the USITC determine that revoking the order or terminating the suspension agreement would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping or subsidies (Commerce) and of material injury (USITC) within a reasonably foreseeable time.
The Commission’s institution notice in five-year reviews requests that interested parties file responses with the Commission concerning the likely effects of revoking the order under review as well as other information. Generally within 95 days from institution, the Commission will determine whether the responses it has received reflect an adequate or inadequate level of interest in a full review. If responses to the USITC’s notice of institution are adequate, or if other circumstances warrant a full review, the Commission conducts a full review, which includes a public hearing and issuance of questionnaires.
The Commission generally does not hold a hearing or conduct further investigative activities in expedited reviews. Commissioners base their injury determination in expedited reviews on the facts available, including the Commission’s prior injury and review determinations, responses received to its notice of institution, data collected by staff in connection with the review, and information provided by the Department of Commerce.
The five-year (sunset) review concerning Hydrofluorocarbon blends from China was instituted on July 1, 2021.
On October 4, 2021, the Commission voted to conduct expedited reviews. Commissioners Jason E. Kearns, Randolph J. Stayin, David S. Johanson, Rhonda K. Schmidtlein, and Amy A. Karpel concluded that the domestic group response was adequate and the respondent group responses were inadequate and voted for expedited reviews.
A record of the Commission’s vote to conduct expedited reviews is available from the Office of the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436. Requests may be made by telephone by calling 202-205-1802.
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Federal Register Notices:
• Investigations; Determinations, Modifications, and Rulings, etc.: Institution of Investigation; Certain Replacement Automotive Lamps II
• Certain Replacement Automotive Lamps; Notice of Institution of Investigation
• Certain Variable Speed Wind Turbine Generators and Components Thereof; Notice of the Commission's Final Determination Finding a Violation of Section 337; Issuance of a Limited Exclusion Order and Cease and Desist Orders; Termination of the Investigation
• Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Investigations, Orders, or Reviews: Certain Softwood Lumber Products From Canada: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2019; Correction
• Heavy Walled Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes From the Republic of Turkey: Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review
• Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin From the Russian Federation: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination
• Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin From India: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Final Affirmative Critical Circumstances Determination
• Certain Softwood Lumber Products From Canada: Notice of Amended Final Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2019; Correction
• Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin From India: Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final Affirmative Determination of Critical Circumstances
• Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value: Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin From the Russian Federation: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value
• Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Investigations, Orders, or Reviews: Certain Steel Nails From India, the Sultanate of Oman, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the Republic of Turkey: Initiation of Countervailing Duty Investigations
• Sales at Less Than Fair Value; Determinations, Investigations, etc.: Certain Steel Nails From India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the Republic of Turkey: Initiation of Less-Than-Fair-Value Investigations
• Investigations; Determinations, Modifications, and Rulings, etc.: Certain Artificial Eyelash Extension Systems, Products, and Components Thereof; Commission Determination To Review in Part a Final Initial Determination Finding No Violation of Section 337; Schedule for Filing Written Submissions on Issues Under Review and on Remedy, Public Interest, and Bonding; Extension of Target Date
• Rescission of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews
• Antidumping or Countervailing Duty Investigations, Orders, or Reviews: Polyethylene Terephthalate Film, Sheet, and Strip From Taiwan: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2019-2020
• Investigations; Determinations, Modifications, and Rulings, etc.: Chlorinated Isocyanurates From China and Spain; Notice of Commission Determination To Conduct Full Five-Year Reviews
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CPSC Warns Consumers: Stop Using the Leachco Podster, Podster Plush, Bummzie and Podster Playtime Infant Loungers Due to Suffocation Hazard; Two Infant Deaths Investigated - Consumer Product Safety Commission
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following reports of two infant deaths, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning consumers to immediately stop using the Podster, Podster Plush, Bummzie and Podster Playtime (the “Podsters”) infant loungers manufactured by Leachco, Inc. of Ada, Oklahoma. The Commission has found that the public health and safety requires this notice to warn the public quickly of the hazard.
For decades, CPSC has emphasized that the best place for a baby to sleep is on a firm, flat surface in a crib, bassinet or play yard. Today’s consumer warning comes several months after a different brand of infant loungers was recalled. CPSC continues to investigate the Podsters and Leachco is refusing to conduct a voluntary recall of the product.
CPSC is aware of two infants who were placed on a Podster and suffocated when, due to a change in position, their noses and mouths were obstructed by the Podster or another object. The infants, 17-days old and four-months old, died in January 2018 and December 2015 in the U.S.
The Podsters measure between 71 and 75 inches in circumference and have dimensions of approximately 23.75 x 21.5 x 8 inches. They have a padded insert and a removable cover. The covers come in a variety of prints and are either 100% polyester or a cotton/polyester blend. The covers also contain an elastic center made of a nylon/spandex blend. Approximately 180,000 Podsters have been sold.
Infant loungers like Podsters are not safe for sleep. Babies should always be placed to sleep on their back. Babies who fall asleep in an inclined or upright position should be moved to a safe sleep environment. To follow safe sleep practices, parents and caregivers should use a fitted sheet only and never add blankets, pillows, padded crib bumpers, or other items to an infant’s sleeping environment.
CPSC intends to promptly consider other actions, including potential filing of an administrative complaint, to protect consumers from this hazard. Consumers are encouraged to report incidents from Podsters or other similar products to saferproducts.gov.
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Philadelphia CBP Seizes Two Shipments of Dangerous Controlled Substances Destined to NY and Chicago - U.S. Customs Border & Protection
PHILADELPHIA – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Philadelphia seized two shipments of dangerous controlled substances – a date-rape precursor and an LSD-like hallucinogenic – on January 20 that arrived in express delivery parcels from overseas.
The first parcel, which was destined to an address in Chicago, arrived on January 18 from Germany and was manifested as “Butanediol Samples.” Butanediol is a solvent used as a floor stripper and paint thinner. CBP officers examined the shipment and discovered 10 bottles of a clear liquid packaged as a cleaning solution.
Officers tested the liquid using a handheld elemental isotope analysis tool and identified the liquid as gamma butyrolactone (GBL), a DEA Schedule 1 controlled substance. The GBL collectively weighed nearly 3.5 gallons.
According to the DEA, GBL is a chemical analogue of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), a highly addictive central nervous system depressant that poses potentially severe health consequences. Sexual predators have used GBL as precursor chemical in a date-rape drug, and others abuse GBL as a bodybuilding supplement and human growth hormone.
The second parcel arrived on January 19 from the Netherlands and was manifested as “Mimosa Tenuiflora.” CBP officers inspected the Dutchess County, N.Y., bound shipment and discovered 57 pounds of tree bark pieces.
The tree bark pieces tested positive for dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a schedule I controlled substance. DMT is used for its psychedelic and hallucinogenic effects and was a popular drug of abuse in the 1960’s. When extracted from plants, the DMT appears as a white crystalline powder and abusers can smoke or brew it for an LSD-like effect. Though DMT is a naturally occurring substance in many species of South American plants, including mimosa tenuiflora, it has no approved medical use in the United States.
“The seizures of DMT and GBL reinforce the importance of Customs and Border Protection officers conducting thorough parcel examinations,” said Joseph Martella, Area Port Director for CBP’s Area Port of Philadelphia. “Unscrupulous international vendors continue to peddle their illicit and dangerous products to American consumers, and CBP officers remain committed to intercepting their shipments before the products can harm American citizens.”
During Fiscal Year 2021, which ended September 30, 2021, CBP officers in the Baltimore Field Office operations area seized nearly 18 pounds of GBL during five seizures and about 33 pounds of DMT during 21 seizures. So far this fiscal year, CBP officers have seized nearly 42 pounds of GBL during three seizures and nearly 115 pounds of DMT during two seizures.
CBP officers and agents seized an average of 4,732 pounds of dangerous drugs every day at our nation’s air, land and sea ports of entry. See what else CBP accomplished during a typical day in 2021.
CBP's border security mission is led at ports of entry by CBP officers from the Office of Field Operations. CBP officers screen international travelers and cargo and search for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.
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Fashion Nova will Pay $4.2 Million as part of Settlement of FTC Allegations it Blocked Negative Reviews of Products - Federal Trade Commission
Case is first to challenge a company’s failure to post negative reviews
Online fashion retailer Fashion Nova, LLC will be prohibited from suppressing customer reviews of its products and required to pay $4.2 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company blocked negative reviews of its products from being posted to its website.
The FTC alleged in a complaint that the California-based retailer, which primarily sells its “fast fashion” products online, misrepresented that the product reviews on its website reflected the views of all purchasers who submitted reviews, when in fact it suppressed reviews with ratings lower than four stars out of five. The case is the FTC’s first involving a company’s efforts to conceal negative customer reviews.
“Deceptive review practices cheat consumers, undercut honest businesses, and pollute online commerce,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Fashion Nova is being held accountable for these practices, and other firms should take note.”
According to the FTC's complaint, Fashion Nova used a third-party online product review management interface to automatically post four- and five-star reviews to its website and hold lower-starred reviews for the company’s approval. But from late-2015 until November 2019, Fashion Nova never approved or posted the hundreds of thousands of lower-starred, more negative reviews. Suppressing a product’s negative reviews deprives consumers of potentially useful information and artificially inflates the product’s average star rating.
The FTC also announced that it is sending letters to 10 companies offering review management services, placing them on notice that avoiding the collection or publication of negative reviews violates the FTC Act. In addition, the FTC has released new guidance for online retailers and review platforms to educate them on the agency’s key principles for collecting and publishing customer reviews in ways that do not mislead consumers.
This is the second case the FTC has brought against Fashion Nova in recent years. In April 2020, the FTC announced that Fashion Nova agreed to pay $9.3 million to settle allegations that the company failed to properly notify consumers and give them the chance to cancel their orders when it failed to ship merchandise in a timely manner, and that it illegally used gift cards to compensate consumers for unshipped merchandise instead of providing refunds.
Under the proposed settlement of the latest allegations, Fashion Nova will pay $4.2 million for harm consumers incurred. Fashion Nova will also be prohibited from making misrepresentations about any customer reviews or other endorsements. In addition, it must post on its website all customer reviews of products currently being sold—with the exception of reviews that contain obscene, sexually explicit, racist, or unlawful content and reviews that are unrelated to the product or customer services like shipping or returns.
The Commission is committed to ensuring that consumers and honest businesses are not cheated by dishonest review practices. In October, the Commission warned more than 700 businesses that they could incur significant civil penalties if they use reviews or other endorsements in ways that were found to be unlawful in prior FTC administrative cases.
The Commission voted 4-0 to issue the proposed administrative complaint and to accept the consent agreement with the company.
The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register soon. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days after publication in the Federal Register after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Instructions for filing comments will appear in the published notice. Once processed, comments will be posted on Regulations.gov.
NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $46,517.