A bill that would impose a surcharge on imported goods that are “more polluting” than American products has stalled and could emerge as a tool of the president’s trade policy.
Some Senate Republicans want to give President Donald Trump another shot in the arm to further raise the specter of tariffs in trade deal negotiations. It’s a “foreign polluter fee” that is levied on imported products that are more “contaminant” than similar products made in the United States.
President Trump has estimated that he will impose surcharges of up to 25% on products from Canada and Mexico, and 10% to 60% on imports from China, making the surcharges on foreign polluters “drastic.” “It would be a defensible tariff.”
The Biden administration is pushing renewable energy to meet decarbonization goals, spurring inflation in capital improvement costs for U.S. utilities and manufacturers, but other countries are not self-constrained as well. said Cassidy.
“One of my concerns is that countries like China are not enforcing international standards for pollution control,” he says. “This will reduce manufacturing costs by as much as 20% and encourage manufacturers to leave and migrate to our country.
Related articles
“And,” Cassidy added, “not only do we lose our jobs, but we also suffer from all the air pollution that blows up to the West Coast. I read that 20 percent of California’s smog is linked to emissions from China. I feel like that.”
“You know, China uses a lot of dirty energy, but it produces a lot of energy, and once it gets up in the air, it doesn’t stay there. It’s not like there’s a wall. By the way. , we love walls, we just don’t have them (stopping at the border).
“It takes three-and-a-half to five-and-a-half days to wash ashore in the United States. It drifts across the ocean, comes right over your neighborhood, and lands in your neighborhood.”
President Trump said U.S. producers extract oil, gas and minerals under stricter environmental regulations than most trading partners, especially China, and that the country’s natural gas output is lower than that of rival producers, especially Russia. He said that the emissions of pollutants are low.
“Everyone says we have to fight for clean air, but dirty air is raining down all around us,” he said. “So what are they talking about? It’s only effective if everyone does it.”
Whether President Trump is using tariffs as leverage in negotiating trade deals, as a source of revenue, or both will soon become clear, increasing U.S. natural gas production and increased liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports are the cherries he is dangling in exchange for favorable deals.
A crew works on a natural gas rig in Zelinople, Pennsylvania, in 2012 after the “shale revolution” fueled by advances in hydraulic fracturing technology sparked a natural gas boom in the United States. Keith Slakočić/AP Photo
As long as there is a fee, I will step into the ring.
The United States is the world’s largest exporter of LNG. But under the Biden administration, exports have been suspended while an investigation examines whether shipping the fuel overseas is in the “public interest” of domestic consumers and whether exports accelerate global greenhouse gas emissions. .
Critics say the LNG moratorium will create uncertainty among investors in financing infrastructure projects such as pipelines and port terminals, disrupt domestic production and lead to capacity shortages in the coming years. They argue that this creates the possibility that the U.S. government’s decarbonization efforts would be counterproductive to Biden’s own decarbonization goals.
Mr Cassidy said that imposing “polluter fees” on countries that use “dirty” energy that does not comply with United Nations and World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements would “make it difficult for countries to manage their emissions in accordance with the law. “This will ensure the competitiveness of our industry.” This gives us an advantage over our competitors who arbitrate these rules. ”
Cassidy and Graham argued in a press release that the U.S. is being punished for its “good environmental record,” while the Chinese Communist Party is exploiting “loopholes” in its trade system that “compensate for its poor environmental record.” .
“This combination weakens U.S. manufacturing at home and abroad, eliminates millions of U.S. jobs, and creates dependence on problematic supply chains,” the statement said.
The bill leaves rule-making, such as calculating pollution intensity, to the Treasury and Energy Departments’ national laboratory systems. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will monitor the workaround. U.S. Customs and Border Protection will collect the fee.
April 12, 2018, World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
Fees may be disputed
Cassidy and Graham said the FPF, which is based on “national sectoral emissions averages,” would confirm that U.S. energy is less carbon-intensive than global energy.
“Carbon leakage” refers to companies moving production to countries with less stringent environmental policies.
Cassidy and Graham’s proposal does not include domestic fees, “so it would be difficult for the United States to argue that the FPF would follow WTO rules,” CSIS concluded.
However, these same rules allow “bad actors” to thrive and impoverish complyers, so “non-compliance with environmental regulations is prohibited for certain products from countries like China.” Cassidy said the field could be leveled by charging “fees roughly equal to the costs avoided.”
“As the president talks about tariffs, your position will ensure the competitiveness of our industry,” he told Burkum, adding that the FPF would help with that. .
Burgum was not proactive.
President Trump’s trade principle is “reciprocity,” he said.
“If you have access to our market and we can’t access your market, or if you’re doing something unfair, if you’re illegally dumping here, if you’re going to the landfill.” If you’re not doing it, if you’re using child labor…he wants reciprocity with tariffs to punish the “bad guys”, and that’s exactly what he’s talking about in public. said.
