Senate to Vote on COMPETES Act Next Week; USTR Takes Action on Tariffs
The Senate will vote to amend the America COMPETES Act, which contains $52 billion in funding for domestic semiconductor manufacturing, on Monday. Next week’s vote will be the latest step in the process of reconciling the differences between the House and Senate bills in order to finally pass the legislation and send it to the president’s desk. Congressional leadership are hoping to have a deal on how to move forward in advance of the upcoming April district work period in which Congress will be out of session for two weeks. The funding for domestic chip production is considered to be one of the non-controversial provisions in the legislation.
Tariffs
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced this week that it would reinstate product exclusions, including on some auto parts, on Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports. The exclusions are retroactive to October 12, 2021 and include vehicle components such as switches designed for use in vehicles, rearview mirrors, cooling pumps for engines and position or speed sensors for transmissions.
In other tariff news, the U.S. and U.K. announced a deal on the Section 232 steel tariffs that were put in place by the Trump Administration in 2018. Under the agreement, in exchange for the removal of the 25% tariff, the U.K. will accept quotas based on historical volumes under which British steel can be imported duty-free, and will also remove the retaliatory tariffs it placed on U.S. goods. The administration has previously struck similar deals to remove the tariffs on steel from allies Japan and the European Union.
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Quotes of the Week
“[Free Trade Agreements are] a very 20th century tool.”
-Katherine Tai, U.S. Trade Representative (Politico)
"The US administration has not made any signs that they want to do trade agreements with anybody anytime soon."
-Chad Brown, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics (BBC)
Don’t Miss
Be sure to register for the next AutoTalk webinar on April 6 at 2:00PM EDT, featuring Cox Automotive’s Senior Economist Charlie Chesbrough, with the most up-to-date, real-time data. Register here.
Friday Feel Good
Here are just a few recent examples of how the international nameplate auto industry is doing good in communities across the U.S.:
In the last 12 months, Bob Penkhus Motor Company, has hosted, funded and sponsored eight official community benefiting projects. They choose to participate in all district drives and contributed $1000 and six months of school supplies for an elementary school. Their generous team adopted nine local families within the school district that would not have been able to have a “Christmas Morning” otherwise and donated more than $6500 to be able to gift even more than each person’s needs and wants lists. Their amazing customers helped fill the back of a SUV with winter coats to donate to “Coats for Colorado” to keep the homeless population warm. Other initiatives have benefitted the military and fallen soldiers. When a local single parent and teacher lost her home in a fire, Bob Penkhus Motor Company matched $3100 in customer donations and presented her with a check for over $6200.00.
On Oct. 10, the Preston Automotive Group held their First Annual Frog’s Fairway Golf Tournament at Hog Neck Golf Course in Easton, Md. The proceeds of $37,802 from the event are being donated to Women Supporting Women and Making Strides. Along with the tournament, Preston wraps a truck each year that travels around to local community events for people to sign and share words of hope.
We want to hear more about how you are supporting your local community – tweet us at @AIADA_News and use the hashtag #DealersDoGood.
