Government Affairs

USTR China Tariff Review Process Underway

As required by law, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced May 3 that it has initiated a four-year “review of necessity” process for tariffs on Chinese imports under Sec. 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. In a May 10 speech, President Joe Biden said combating inflation is his top domestic priority citing the pandemic, supply chain issues and war in Ukraine as the primary…

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act goes to a House-Senate Conference

Key to untying the Gordian knot known as the supply-chain crisis is recognizing and addressing unreasonable business practices by ocean carriers. Some of these practices can likely be attributed to consolidation, and a recent report by Commissioner Carl Bentzel, Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), finds the shipping container (“containerization”) was a key factor in this…

China Competition Legislation

Perhaps the last big initiative that has a chance to be agreed to by both chambers of Congress before the midterm election usurps the agenda is “China competition legislation.” The Senate and House have approved two separate bills per this broad theme, with the anchor provision in each being $52 billion to incentivize companies to build semiconductor manufacturing facilities…

Supply Chain and Tariff Developments

To address the ocean carrier supply chain crisis and high cost of shipping containers, IHA is part of a broad coalition of business groups working to pass the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA), which is a “Shippers Bill of Rights” to give importers and exporters much greater legal standing and the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) more tools to deal with unreasonable ocean…

ADA Website Lawsuits Continue

When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, the focus of Title III in the law was, and still is, providing accessibility for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations and commercial facilities. Framers saw Title III’s language exclusively in terms of “brick and mortar” and the internet wasn’t contemplated then. …

Tax Hikes on the Congressional Agenda

On March 31, President Biden announced the first half of his “Build Back Better” initiative, the $2.25 trillion American Jobs Plan. Presented by the White House as an infrastructure plan, this massive proposal covers a broad range of functions that go beyond the conventional notion of “infrastructure” to include programs such as $400 billion for home and community-based…

COVID-Related Legislative and Regulatory Changes for Employers

On March 11, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law. The $1.9 trillion “ARP” is different than the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that passed with bipartisan votes in March 2020 and initiated the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and new tax breaks. Aside from targeted financial programs for…

State Legislation Looks to Manufacturers to Fund Recycling Costs

In recent months, a barrage of state-level bills has been introduced throughout the country seeking to generate revenue from product manufacturers for the costs of recycling their products and packaging. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) bills seek to extract funding from manufacturers to cover the escalating costs of recycling materials. Traditionally, these…

Biden Administration Workplace Rule Changes

One policy area that’s seeing a big shift in Washington, DC, involves workplace rules and regulations. The Biden Administration, along with the Democratic sweep of Georgia’s two Senate seats, will add impetus to legislative and regulatory labor law changes concerning overtime pay; what constitutes a joint-employer; the test to determine an independent contractor vs. an…