House GOP lawmakers want to place additional limits on China’s access to U.S. networks via amendments to the Armed Services Committee-cleared FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-4350). House Armed Services advanced HR-4350 earlier this month with language that would improve DOD implementation of its October 2020 spectrum strategy and the department’s adjustment of its systems before the FCC’s planned auction of spectrum on the 3.45-3.55 GHz band (see 2108250075). Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., wants to attach language to HR-4350 from the Defending America’s 5G Future Act, which would codify the Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security's placement of Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei to its export entity blacklist. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., proposes barring exports of telecom equipment “that would serve the primary purpose of assisting, or be specifically configured to assist, the People’s Republic of China in acquiring the capability to carry out censorship, surveillance, or any other similar or related activity.” Other tech and telecom-focused amendments include one from Rep. Van Taylor, R-Texas, to create a White House-led Technology Competitiveness Council aimed at keeping the U.S. competitive on tech issues. Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., wants to attach her American Freedom and Internet Access Act (HR-5123), which would require the Air Force to implement Operation Starfall, which would give other countries wireless access via balloons and satellites. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., wants the State Department to report to Congress on the “national security implications” of open radio access networks. Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, wants to bar DOD from spending money with tech companies DOJ or the FTC determines have an “unlawful monopoly.” Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., seeks to prohibit federal agencies from requiring or supporting tech companies’ efforts to add back doors or other security vulnerabilities to their products and services. The House Rules Committee will meet Monday at noon to consider which proposed HR-4350 amendments will get floor votes.

Developing “inclusive” digital trade rules with Indo-Pacific “trusted partners” should be a “critical element” of a broader U.S. trade agenda “to counter protectionist digital economy trends,” safeguard U.S. workers’ interests and bolster U.S. opportunities, CTA, the Information Technology Industry Council, National Retailer Federation and 15 other groups wrote U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai Friday. USTR should take the lead in developing a new “plurilateral” digital trade agreement or pursue the expansion of existing pacts, said the groups, also including BSA|The Software Alliance, the Computer & Communications Industry Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. They urged USTR to “prioritize engagement with Indo-Pacific economies” to advance new digital trade rules and “re-assert U.S. leadership on trade policy in this strategically important region.” USTR didn’t comment Monday.

The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry took a hard line on a letter that 13 House Commerce Committee Republicans sent Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Thursday seeking DOT information on reports that U.S. officials approved licensing applications for Huawei to buy U.S. semiconductors for China’s next-generation autonomous vehicles. The GOP members asked Buttigieg to respond by Sept. 23 to a dozen questions about the reports, including whether he’s concerned that Huawei is looking for a U.S. “foothold” to steal information on Americans and gather intelligence on the U.S. “transportation infrastructure.” The 13 “thieving” U.S. politicians “have the nerve to call others thieves,” responded the ministry spokesperson Friday. “When it comes to stealing and gathering information, the U.S. is the true world champion.” Huawei has “openly announced” to the world “its readiness to sign no-backdoor agreements and to launch cybersecurity assessment centers in any country to receive external testing,” he said. “I wonder if U.S. companies dare to do the same.” DOT didn’t respond to questions.

The Biden administration appointed John Porcari, deputy transportation secretary under President Barack Obama, as “port envoy” to its supply chain disruptions task force, the White House announced Friday. The task force was formed in June to address supply and demand “mismatches that emerged in several sectors,” including semiconductors, it said. Porcari will work with the task force and the National Economic Council to address the congestion at U.S. ports, it said. The congestion is being felt “particularly acutely” at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, “which together handle the largest share of containerized cargo moving through U.S. ports,” it said. Containerized cargo volume jumped 40% in the first half of this year compared with the same 2020 period, it said. Porcari's role will be to address “the backlog and associated delivery delays and product shortages being experienced by American consumers and businesses,” said the White House. The National Retail Federation is “encouraged” by Porcari's hiring, said David French, senior vice president-government relations. “The supply chain disruptions that continue to evolve pose a threat to many American businesses,” said French Friday. “The bottlenecks and congestion we are seeing at our ports highlight the need for an improved and sophisticated supply chain that can handle these issues.”

The Biden administration is conducting a “comprehensive review of U.S.-China trade policy,” and is committed “to addressing China’s unfair trade policies and non-market practices that undermine American businesses and workers,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told the U.S. Chamber China Center Advisory Board and the leadership of the US-China Business Council in virtual meetings Tuesday, said a readout from her agency. Tai “acknowledged the significance of the U.S. trade relationship with China, and emphasized the importance of a thorough strategic assessment to craft resilient trade policy,” it said. Tai has “no specific timeline” for her agency’s completion of its “top-to-bottom” review of U.S. trade and economic policy toward China, but the Section 301 tariffs and tariff exclusions on Chinese imports “will be important components of this review,” she told the House Ways and Means Committee in mid-May (see 2105140023).

The Chinese reacted warmly to the announcement by Vice President Kamala Harris in Singapore that the U.S. is offering to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in 2023. “APEC is an important economic cooperation forum in the Asia-Pacific region that follows the principle of consensus through consultation,” said Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tuesday. The U.S. “has long worked with our partners in Asia and Latin America to build an interconnected region that advances our collective economic prosperity,” Harris told a Singapore audience Tuesday.

Customs and Border Protection surpassed $100 billion in Section 301 tariffs collected on Chinese goods through Aug. 18, reported the agency Monday. The total includes collections from all four rounds of duties imposed, beginning with the List 1 tariffs that took effect in July 2018.

June imports through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach reached slightly more than 357,000 20-foot-long containers or their equivalents, up 18.8% from June 2020, reported Crane Worldwide Logistics. Fewer cargo ships called at the Port of Long Beach in June than in May “due to shifting services and a COVID-19 outbreak at the Yantian port in China, resulting in some vessels delaying arrivals until July,” it said. Import activity at North American port and inland operations continues to be slow “due to congestion, limited labor hours, reduced equipment supply and low truck availability,” said Crane. Logistics bottlenecks are “particularly” acute at ports in California, where “a lot of our product comes through” from China, reported Vizio in May (see 2105120064).

Back-to-school retail merchandising preparations combined with persistent consumer demand induced by hybrid work and remote learning protocols to drive double-digit growth in second-quarter laptop and tablet imports to the U.S., reported the Census Bureau in data retrieved Friday through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. U.S. importers sourced 36.49 million laptops and tablets from all countries in Q2, up 17.1% sequentially from Q1 and a 17.8% increase from the 30.98 million devices shipped here in the same 2020 quarter. Shipments to the U.S. soared 48.9% in 2021's first six months to 67.65 million. Year-over-year smartphone imports to the U.S. also increased, but by not nearly the same torrid pace as laptops and tablets. U.S. importers sourced 44.51 million handsets from all countries in Q2, about 0.5% fewer than in Q1, but up 10.8% from the 40.18 million devices shipped here in the 2020 quarter. First-half smartphone imports to the U.S. jumped 17.3% from a year earlier to 89.23 million handsets, said DataWeb.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security “continues to work with our interagency partners to apply consistently the licensing policies” included in a final rule “to restrict Huawei’s access to technology or software for activities that could harm U.S. national security and foreign policy interests,” a spokesperson emailed Thursday. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., pressed BIS Wednesday for details on its implementation of revised restrictions because he said he's aware of evidence of noncompliance (see 2108110066). “In addition to other EAR [Export Administration Regulations] license requirements that may apply to Huawei,” an August final direct product rule bars the company “and its affiliates” from “sourcing certain foreign-produced items from outside” the U.S. “without a license from BIS,” the spokesperson said. The agency “aggressively enforces” its rules “and takes allegations of potential export control violations seriously. All sources of information are leveraged to identify, investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute violations. Huawei reported a revenue decrease of almost 30% for the first half of 2021 compared to the first half of 2020.”