The U.S. House of Representatives moved forward with legislation to increase U.S. competitiveness aimed at countering China. The House bill is a counterpart to the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), which the Senate passed last June by a 68-32 vote. Passage of the House measure allows both chambers to begin the conference process to resolve differences and produce a final bill. The House bill, the America COMPETES Act of 2022, includes $52 billion to incentivize domestic semiconductor manufacturing, $5.2 billion for STEM workforce and training, and $500 million to implement a program creating manufacturing hubs around the country, increased funding for the National Science Foundation and provisions encouraging businesses to relocate out of China. Additionally, the House bill also contains the National Apprenticeship Act providing funding to expand high-quality Registered Apprenticeship opportunities and an extension of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) programs, including TAA for Firms. The House trade bill does not include several elements contained in USICA's trade title, such as language requiring the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to immediately reopen a broad product-ex-clusion process for Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods or the provision reinstating all expired Section 301 exclusions.
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