Hard to Know If Bill to Extend Tariff Exclusions ‘Has Legs,’ Says Trade Expert

It’s difficult to judge the likelihood of success of House legislation that would direct the Office of the Trade Representative to extend Trade Act Section 301 tariffs exclusions automatically for at least a year (see 2007170050), Nicole Bivens Collinson, the Sandler Travis president-international trade and government relations, told a Sports & Fitness Industry Association webinar Thursday. Collinson isn’t sure if the bill “has legs or not,” she said. “That it is bipartisan is helpful.” She thinks the legislation could clear the House, “but I don’t know that the Senate would be willing to bring it up,” because Senate Republicans would view it as “usurping” President Donald Trump’s tariff “authority,” she said. It’s also highly unlikely Trump would sign it into law, she said.