Negotiations Underway on China Package in Informal Conference, Blumenauer Says

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., the author of the trade provisions within the House China package, said that a virtual conference committee has begun discussing a compromise between the House and Senate bills. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is making it harder to find the time to make progress, he said. There has been no public announcement that the chambers weren't going to use a formal conference committee (see 2202020055), or that negotiations had begun.

During a March 9 webinar on his proposal to eliminate de minimis for imports from China, Blumenauer said that what he meant by a virtual conference committee was that there are negotiations underway between the top leadership in the House and Senate. "I have volunteered to be part of some of these conversations. I’ve raised it with some of my Senate friends, because we have some very serious differences" in the trade titles, he said, in response to a question from International Trade Today.

"I’m glad that it's taking place," he said of the negotiations. "I’m a little frustrated we haven’t been able to actually access the process as much as I would like."

He pointed to the fact that the Senate bill doesn't change de minimis; it doesn't renew Trade Adjustment Assistance; and it doesn't remove finished goods from future rounds of the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill. He said allowing finished goods in the MTB is a distortion of its original purpose.

"We have a number of very specific elements that we're fighting for. We made the point to our friends in the Senate, and we're working to try to raise the profile of these items," he said. "I’m hopeful that our friends and allies will continue to spotlight these so that it will be part of this informal conferencing process."