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Letter to Robert E. Lighthizer, Ambassador of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative - Pascrell, Wenstrup Lead 164 Members Urging Removal of Tariffs That Could Further Harm Reeling American Families and Businesses

Letter

By: Bill Pascrell, Jr., Paul Cook, Julia Brownley, Nanette Barragán, Charlie Crist, Jr., Rodney Davis, Ted Budd, Steve Chabot, Tom Cole, Joe Cunningham, Colin Allred, Ami Bera, Salud Carbajal, Ken Calvert, Joe Courtney, Mike Bost, Jack Bergman, Anthony Brindisi, Troy Balderson, Earl Blumenauer, Henry Cuellar, Paul Gosar, Jimmy Gomez, Jim Himes, Bill Huizenga, Joshua Gottheimer, Adriano Espaillat, John Katko, Brian Fitzpatrick, Lizzie Fletcher, Suzan DelBene, Tom O'Halleran, Barbara Lee, Grace Napolitano, Scott Peters, Eleanor Norton, Mike Quigley, Jim McGovern, Jamie Raskin, Betty McCollum, Annie Kuster, Frank Pallone, Jr., Susie Lee, Carolyn Maloney, Fred Keller, Dan Newhouse, Carol Miller, Terri Sewell, Eric Swalwell, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Mike Waltz, Francis Rooney, Bobby Rush, Jackie Walorski, Dutch Ruppersberger, Haley Stevens, Chris Smith, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Thomas Suozzi, Max Rose, Tom Reed II, Kurt Schrader, GT Thompson, Jr., Tom Rice, Jennifer Wexton, T.J. Cox, Judy Chu, Lou Correa, Danny Davis, André Carson, Mark Amodei, Brad Wenstrup, Suzanne Bonamici, Steve Cohen, Gerry Connolly, Raul Grijalva, Anna Eshoo, Rosa DeLauro, Bill Keating, George Holding, Hakeem Jeffries, Antonio Delgado, Peter DeFazio, Louie Gohmert, Lloyd Doggett II, Glenn Grothman, Tom McClintock, Jimmy Panetta, Alan Lowenthal, John Larson, Lucy McBath, Darin LaHood, Stephen Lynch, Dan Kildee, Chris Pappas, Andy Kim, Don Payne, Jr., Jerry Nadler, Joe Morelle, Donald McEachin, Derek Kilmer, Mike Thompson, Linda Sánchez, Harley Rouda, Greg Steube, Donna Shalala, Brad Schneider, Lori Trahan, Tim Walberg, David Rouzer, Mikie Sherrill, Lee Zeldin, Nydia Velázquez, Elise Stefanik, Steve Stivers, Guy Reschenthaler, William Timmons, Marc Veasey, Ruben Gallego, Diana DeGette, Jahana Hayes, Jim Hagedorn, Steven Horsford, Eliot Engel, Brian Higgins, Mike Doyle, Jr., Vicente Gonzalez, Jaime Herrera Beutler, Ann Kirkpatrick, Ro Khanna, Ted Lieu, Ed Perlmutter, Stephanie Murphy, Adam Kinzinger, Seth Moulton, Chellie Pingree, David Price, Donald Norcross, Tom Malinowski, Grace Meng, Sean Maloney, David Kustoff, Cathy Rodgers, Greg Stanton, Norma Torres, Mark Takano, Darren Soto, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Jan Schakowsky, Cedric Richmond, David Trone, Ann Wagner, Albio Sires, Dina Titus, Kathleen Rice, José Serrano, Mike Turner, Mary Scanlon, Joe Wilson, Sr., Ron Wright, Peter Welch
Date: July 29, 2020
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Foreign Affairs Trade

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer:

We write in strong support of your determination to ensure U.S. rights and interests are upheld at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the Large Civil Aircraft Dispute with the European Union (EU). We appreciate your work to implement a thoughtful strategy that protects American interests and all the American workers harmed by illegal EU subsidies. We are disappointed that the EU continues to refuse to remove its illegal subsidies, and we encourage you to continue seeking a suitable outcome with the EU that will eliminate these subsidies and resolve this longstanding trade dispute. In the meantime, as you consider modifications to the related retaliation list in order to maintain pressure on the EU, we urge you to make changes that include taking a targeted approach and removing duties on food and drink products as that industry is struggling during the current pandemic.

We particularly are concerned that the economic situation in our country has changed dramatically since additional duties in relation to this case were imposed in October 2019. Tens of millions of Americans are now out of work and businesses across America have been devastated. We hope you will update the United States' approach in this case to eliminate unintended hardships for Americans trying to make ends meet and small businesses seeking to recover.

The economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly hard for the food, beverage, and hospitality industries in our country, which include many small and medium-sized retailers, restaurants, distributors, and manufacturers. For instance, many restaurants across the United States have closed their doors or are operating with limited seating capacity due to government mandates. In this environment, these businesses have minimal flexibility to raise prices. Additional duties on imported wine, spirits, and food products like fruit, pork, and olive oil cut into their already tight profit margins, further threatening the survival of these industries and the many jobs they support.

To help our constituents during this crisis, we urge you to remove all duties for food and drink products (HTS Subheadings 0203 through 2208) imposed in relation to this case without lowering the total value duties that can be imposed. We believe it is possible for our strategy to maintain maximum pressure on the EU to remove its subsidies case while avoiding harm to American workers, consumers, and small businesses to the greatest extent possible.

Thank you for your time and consideration of our request. We look forward to working with you to ensure we implement a thoughtful strategy going forward.

Sincerely,


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