Informal Conference on China Packages Has Begun, Participant Says

The author of the House China package's trade title said a virtual conference committee has begun discussing a compromise between the House and Senate bills, but Russia's invasion of Ukraine makes it harder to find the time to make progress. There has been no public announcement that the chambers weren't going to use a formal conference committee, or that negotiations had begun. House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said during a Tuesday media call: "I think the overall impact of the Russian invasion has set everybody back on their heels and has affected everybody’s work plans." Another competing claim on Congress members' time, Blumenauer said, is the time needed to negotiate an agreement to fund the current fiscal year beyond continuing resolutions. A vote was expected on that bill Wednesday morning so House Democrats could leave at noon for a retreat, but Senate Republicans' insistence that new pandemic spending be paid for led to a revolt among House Democrats who represent states whose previous COVID-19 pandemic funding allocations were taken away to balance the books. Eventually, the vote went forward without the pandemic funding. President Joe Biden said in the State of the Union last week and members of his cabinet have been speaking publicly about how this compromise needs to get done in short order so the funds can flow to boost domestic chipmaking.