The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative set a Dec. 10 deadline for filing requests to testify at a Dec. 29 online hearing on the agency's Trade Act Section 301 investigation into alleged Vietnamese currency manipulation (see 2010070047). Post-hearing rebuttals are due Jan. 7, says a USTR notice for Wednesday's Federal Register. The agency originally planned to forego a public hearing even virtually due to COVID-19 concerns. USTR is seeking testimony into the "nature and level of burden or restriction on U.S. commerce caused by the undervaluation of Vietnam’s currency," among other areas, said the notice. U.S. importers source about a fifth of all smartphone shipments from Vietnam.

The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry declined comment Monday on Antony Blinken, a former State Department deputy in the Obama administration, as President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to become secretary of state. “We don't comment on U.S. internal affairs,” said a ministry spokesperson. “China is ready to strengthen communication with the United States, expand cooperation, manage differences, and work for sound and stable development of China-U.S. ties.” The U.S. is at a “strategic disadvantage” against China because the Trump administration tried to strong-arm Beijing without enlisting the help of U.S. allies, Blinken told a Hudson Institute event July 9. “We need to rally our allies and partners instead of alienating them to deal with some of the challenges that China poses.” The U.S. generates about a quarter of the world’s GDP, said Blinken. “When we're working with allies and partners, depending on who we bring into the mix, it's 50 or 60% of GDP. That's a lot more weight and a lot harder for China to ignore.”

The U.S. needs to “reset the trade agenda” with China under the Biden administration, House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., told a New England Council webinar Monday. Massachusetts is “at least one-third dependent economically” on international trade, he said. “Keeping the heat on China is important, but simultaneously, tariffs are not the only way to do it,” said Neal. “There are other ways to do this.” He wants “less emphasis on tariffs” and more of a focus on “international cooperation,” he said. “Multilateral relationships makes the most sense.”

Two dozen individual importers filed Section 301 lawsuits at the U.S. Court of International Trade Thursday on an exceptionally busy day for litigation seeking to overturn the Trump administration’s tariffs on Chinese goods, court records show. Attorney Elon Pollack of Stein Shostak in Los Angeles filed all but one of the actions on behalf of small apparel importers seeking to get only the List 4A rulemaking vacated and the tariffs refunded. Pollack left the List 3 tariffs out of the complaints, setting his actions virtually alone among the roughly 3,700 complaints filed since Sept. 10. Pollack's argument establishes Aug. 20, 2019, when the List 4A notice was published in the Federal Register, as the date when the two-year clock on the statute of limitations began. Like virtually all the other lawsuits, Pollack argues the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative overstepped its 1974 Trade Act authority when it imposed List 4A as retaliatory duties against the Chinese. USTR's List 4A rulemaking also was “arbitrary and capricious” in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act because it “did not provide a sufficient opportunity for comment, failed to meaningfully consider relevant factors when making their decisions, and failed to adequately explain their rationale,” he argued on behalf of importer client Ya Ya Creations (in Pacer). The one complaint (in Pacer) Thursday that wasn’t Pollack’s was filed on behalf of Bissell home care products by the Dallas law firm Polsinelli. Attorney Michelle Schulz modeled her complaint after most of the others, seeking to vacate the Lists 3 and 4A tariffs. Bissell is “entitled to declaratory judgment” that USTR’s actions were “contrary to law,” said Schulz. USTR didn’t respond to questions Friday.

A new State Department paper warning of China and its global trade ambitions “only serves to lay bare the entrenched Cold War mindset and ideological prejudice of some people on the U.S. side and their fear, anxiety and unhealthy mentality towards a growing China," said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Thursday. “Their vile attempts to bring back the Cold War will be mercilessly rejected by the Chinese people and all peace-lovers around the world,” he said. The Chinese Communist Party “aims not merely at preeminence within the established world order,” but to “fundamentally revise world order” by serving “Beijing’s authoritarian goals and hegemonic ambitions,” said the paper, titled The Elements of the China Challenge. It proposed a “tasks” list to “refashion” U.S. policy by educating Americans “about the scope and implications” of the alleged threat and training a “new generation of public servants” fluent in Chinese. The U.S. also “must promote American interests by looking for opportunities to cooperate with Beijing subject to norms of fairness and reciprocity,” it said. The State Department didn’t respond to questions Thursday.

Of the roughly 3,700 complaints filed since Sept. 10 at the U.S. Court of International Trade seeking to have the Section 301 Lists 3 and 4A tariff rulemakings vacated and the duties refunded (see 2009110041), about 140 have come since Sept. 24. That’s the two-year anniversary of List 3 taking effect and was within the statute of limitations that many lawyers cited under court rules to establish the timeliness of their actions. A plaintiff must file an action within two years "after the cause of action accrues," say court rules. Lawyers in the subsequent actions will try to establish that the clock started when their importer clients first paid the tariffs. Recent complaints have been trickling in at the rate of about one a day, the latest (in Pacer) on Monday from LG Chem and four other importers from various industries. LG is trying to defeat the List 4A tariffs on the lithium-ion batteries it imports from China under the 8507.60.00 subheading. Akin Gump is handling the case for LG and argues the List 4A statute of limitations doesn’t expire until Aug. 20, two years after List 4A was announced in the Federal Register. Akin Gump was behind the first-filed complaint on behalf of HMTX Industries and Jasco Products.

Huawei hopes to “reset” its relations with the U.S. under President-elect Joe Biden, said Paul Scanlan, Huawei Carrier Business Group chief technology officer, on CNBC Sunday. When there “is a change in government, there is always the opportunity to reset relationships,” he said: “There should be more dialogue. We would welcome more dialogue. … With dialogue comes understanding, and with understanding comes trust.” The FCC approved items targeting Huawei under Chairman Ajit Pai (see 2009040050).

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. has “deep regret” about the Trump administration imposing national security export restrictions on China’s largest chipmaker (see 2009080057), said SMIC Chairman Zhou Zixue on a Q3 investor call Wednesday. Though the restrictions “will have an impact on SMIC in the near term, we believe it’s manageable,” he said. “The company will maintain close cooperation with suppliers and customers and continue to maintain active communication with the relevant department of the United States government working to resolve possible differences.” SMIC supplies products and services only for “civilian end users,” said co-CEO Zhao Haijun. “SMIC strictly complies with the laws and regulations of all jurisdictions where we conduct business. Over the years, we have established good cooperative relations with well-known customers and semiconductor equipment suppliers in the United States and internationally.” The company is working with U.S. suppliers to apply for export licenses, he said: It risks longer delivery lead times for equipment and raw materials due to the restrictions.

Rolling back a “substantial number” of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods likely will be a “first order of business” for the Biden administration’s trade policy, said the Information Technology Industry Council Tuesday. The duties have “proven to be punishing to American consumers and businesses,” it said. The new administration will need to negotiate with the Chinese “to potentially achieve or strengthen commitments on trade issues and to ensure a stepped tariffs removal process on both sides,” it said. “This can serve as a relatively easy trust building exercise and ‘low-hanging’ fruit as the administration seeks to reestablish more routine government-to-government discussions.” It can also provide “an early window” into which issues the new administration will “prioritize in trade discussions with China,” it said. Neither the Biden team nor the Chinese Embassy in Washington responded to questions.

U.S. retail ports handled an estimated 8.1 million 20-foot-long cargo containers or their equivalents July through October, “the peak shipping season when retailers rush to bring in merchandise for the winter holidays each year,” reported the National Retail Federation Monday. Though subject to revision once October numbers become final, that would be a 6.1% increase over the same 2019 period and would beat the previous record of 7.7 million containers set in 2018, it said. “Part of this surge was fueled by restocking after retail sales rebounded this summer and part could be making sure there aren’t shortages if we see panic buying again,” said NRF. “The economic challenges of the pandemic aren’t over yet, but this clearly shows how an industry that has been under stress is fighting back in a positive way.”