Amendment No. 1562, as Modified, to Amendment No. 1502

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRAPO. Madam President, I call up my amendment No. 1562, as modified with the changes at the desk, and ask that it be reported by number.

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Mr. CRAPO. Madam President and Members of the Senate, what we are going to be voting on shortly here, Senate Amendment No. 1562, is an example of the bipartisanship that can be achieved if we put in the hard work to work out the details and the differences between us on very critical issues.

This is not just an amendment on one topic; this is an entire title, the Finance Committee's title. The chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Wyden, and I have worked for months together to identify that intersection--which is a big one, as you will see--between Republicans and Democrats here in the Senate on trade policy to help us to put together a package of strong trade policy that will help us to stand up our efforts in pushing back against China in one of the most critical arenas that we face: trade, our economy, and working against the very nefarious activities that China is engaged in to try to undercut us economically and to undercut our American companies in our trade relationships.

Senator Wyden and I worked hard together to get this done, and I am glad that we now have a package that can be put forward. As I said, it is not just one provision; this is an entire trade title. Let me summarize just some of the things that are in it.

It provides a comprehensive approach to combat China's manufacturing imbalances, threats to free and fair trade, and illicit activity, which undermine America's leadership in innovation. This legislation will level the playing field for American consumers and companies, including workers, farmers, fishers, families, and taking aim at China's worst practices.

The amendment itself carries a bipartisan approach into a Senate-wide effort to ensure that the United States is positioned effectively to compete on a fair playing field globally--not just with China, globally, but especially with China.

It bolsters efforts to prohibit goods made with forced labor from reaching the United States by strengthening our Customs and Border Protection enforcement efforts and through better use of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program.

It provides modernized trade enforcement tools to U.S. Trade Representatives to address anti-competitive digital trade and censorship practices, like China's great firewall, by requiring the USTR to identify trading partners that disrupt digital trade.

It appoints a USTR official to oversee information communication technology and provides advance notice and text of proposals for any digital trade agreements 5 days before they are tabled to facilitate our efforts here in Congress to oversee an effective trade policy.

It requires a review of trade in essential supplies, including the sources of imports, and analysis of any vulnerabilities, as well as additional tools for businesses in the United States seeking reliable suppliers.

It strengthens oversight over U.S. trade policy by providing an inspector general to the USTR and by ensuring the application of section 301 tariffs related to China are calibrated to provide the necessary leverage to support American competition while ensuring U.S. competitiveness in manufacturing.

It reauthorizes, critically, the miscellaneous tariff bill--what has been called the MTB--and improved generalized system of preferences, the GSP. That will promote human rights, the environment, women's economic empowerment, and the rule of law and digital trade, and restarts and reforms the critical section 301 product exclusion process. These things might sound complicated, but it is our way of standing up our American competitors in a very anti-competitive environment dealing with China.

It expands the duties of the Interagency Center on Trade Implementation, Monitoring, and Enforcement to include investigations of practices, diffuse impacts on the economy and workers of the United States where there is systemic impacts on the resiliency of multiple critical domestic supply chains. Standing up and building out our supply chains is critical in this economic competition.

It requires the U.S. Trade Representatives to initiate talks with the Quad countries to develop a strategy on critical minerals to counter China's dominant share of that global supply.

It requires the CBP to submit a report to Congress on achieving supply chain transparency. CBP is seeking greater supply chain transparency to address merchandise made with forced labor, with counterfeits, and through a 21st Century Customs Framework Initiative.

It requires the USTR to brief Congress on the findings of a forthcoming report by the Comptroller General of the United States related to that critical 301 exclusion process.

It directs the USTR to enter into negotiations with allies to stop the importation of goods made with stolen intellectual property into the United States and allied countries. The theft of American intellectual property is becoming critical to our ability to be effectively competitive against China.

This list goes on. This is a major Finance Committee title that will significantly strengthen U.S. competitiveness in response to the malign activities that we continuously see growing from China. I encourage all of my colleagues to support this important amendment.

Before I finish, I want to say what I was going to say at the beginning of my remarks, and I alluded to it briefly. Senator Wyden and I have had a very close and strong negotiation going on, and I appreciate deeply the ability that we have to work together in a bipartisan fashion to build this, and we will be building other very important policies for this country. I just wanted to thank my colleague Senator Wyden for his partnership in this effort.

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