The Senate voted on April 10, 2024, to block the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) joint employer rule, joining the House of Representatives in approving the measure. The Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution provides formal “congressional disapproval” of the NLRB’s “Standard for Determining Joint Employer Status” rule, which would expand the factors that can establish a joint employment relationship to include indirect and unexercised control over the terms and conditions of a job. This formal disapproval under the CRA would repeal the regulation as well as prohibit the agency from issuing any rules that are “substantially the same” as the overturned regulation.
The Senate approved the resolution by a 50-48 vote, with Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Angus King (I-ME), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) voting with Republicans. On January 12, 2024, the House voted 206-177, with 8 Democrats joining 198 Republicans to approve the CRA. President Biden has already indicated that he will veto the resolution. However, while the CRA only required a simple majority to pass to override the President’s veto Congress would need a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate. President Biden is expected to veto the resolution, placing a greater emphasis on the pending court cases.
The final rule, scheduled to go into effect on March 11, 2024, was vacated on March 8 by a federal judge in Texas. The NLRB is considering “next steps” which would include appealing the ruling.
USITC Announces Hearing in USMCA Autos Review
The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) announced a public hearing for October 8, 2024, as part of the investigation into the “economic impact and operation” of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s automotive rules of origin for the second of five scheduled reports mandated by USMCA implementing legislation.
As part of the investigation, launched in November 2023, the USITC is examining the USMCA automotive rules of origin and “their impact on the U.S. economy, effect on U.S. competitiveness, and relevancy considering recent technology changes.” The Commission is required to complete and submit the report to the President, the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Senate Committee on Finance by July 1, 2025. USITC released the first report in June 2023, while the final three reports are due in 2027, 2029, and 2031.
USTR to Soon Complete 301 Tariff Review
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is nearing the completion of the review of the tariffs imposed on China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 during the Trump administration. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said during a congressional hearing on April 17, 2024, that the administration is in the “very, very advanced stages of our interagency work” and she expects that the review will conclude “very soon.”
The statutorily required four-year review on the effectiveness of the 25 percent and 7.5 percent Section 301 tariffs on more than 10,000 imported goods from China began in 2022. USTR has been examining “the effectiveness in achieving the objectives” of the initial action and other actions that could be taken, as well as “the effects of such actions on the United States economy, including consumers.” President Biden, also on April 17, called for USTR to consider tripling the tariff rate on Chinese steel and aluminum as part of the recommendations of actions stemming from Section 301 review. According to the White House, the average tariff on certain steel and aluminum products under Section 301 is 7.5 percent. Any increase in tariffs under Section 301 are in addition to the 25 percent and 10 percent tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum, respectfully, under Section 232 already in place.
EPA Proposes Minor Changes to Secondary NAAQS
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposal leaving the “secondary” air standards for nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and particulate matter (PM) mostly unchanged. The proposed rule, published on April 15, 2024, would slightly tighten the secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for SOx while retaining the secondary standards for NOx and PM.
Primary NAAQS are required by the Clean Air Act to protect public health, while secondary standards are designed to protect the environment.
The SOx secondary standard stands at 500 parts per billion (ppb) of sulfur dioxide (SO2) over three hours, a level also set in 1971. The proposed rule would lower the standard to a range of 10 ppb to 15 ppb for SO2, averaged over three years. The proposal deviates from a final policy assessment (PA) issued by EPA staff, which recommended an annual in the range of 5-16 ppb, averaged over three years.
In the PA, EPA staff also recommended additional tighter standards including as low as 40-35 ppb for NOx; tightening the annual limit from 15 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3), to as low as 12 ug/m3 for PM2.5; while retaining the secondary standard for PM10. The secondary standard for NOx is set at 53 parts per billion (ppb) of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) annually, the same level it has been at since 1971. The secondary annual PM2.5 standard now stands at 15 ug/m3, and the secondary daily PM2.5 standard at 35 ug/m3. The secondary daily limit for larger “coarse” PM, or PM10, stands at 150 ug/m3.
The EPA will hold a public hearing on the proposal on May 8 and will also be accepting comments from stakeholders through June 14, 2024.
White House Launches Climate and Trade Task Force
The White House has formed a new task force to focus on developing a “climate and trade policy toolkit”, as well as “credible, robust, and granular data to implement smart climate and trade policies.”
The formation of the task force was revealed by John Podesta, White House Senior Adviser for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation, during a speech at the Columbia Global Energy Summit in New York City on April 16, 2024. In developing the “toolkit,” Podesta said that the task force will be drawing on the experience from the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and the EU on a Global Arrangement on Steel and Aluminum as well as proposals from Congress and other “policy thought leaders” from both the public and private sectors. The task force will also work with America’s trading partners to “develop standardized and authoritative ways of measuring embodied emissions” to boost clean manufacturing.