From Washington

On July 25, UPS and its workers reached a deal on a new labor contract, averting a possible August 1 strike. The deal comes after TGA urged the U.S. government to intervene to prevent a strike.

On July 12, over 65 bipartisan members of Congress, including virtually every member of the House China Select Committee, urged House leadership to renew the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program ASAP as a bulwark against China. The letter gives hope that Congress could renew GSP before the end of this year. In response, the Coalition for […]

Enough already. After two and a half years, the status of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) remains in limbo. TGA is there, pushing hard to get GSP renewal over the finish line — but everyone needs to help push. Nate Herman has the call to action in Capital Beat.

On June 2, TGA joined dozens of other industry groups in sending a letter to the House Select Committee on China to correct the record on the negative impact of China Section 301 tariffs on American workers, American families, and American businesses. The letter urges the committee to work to remove the tariffs because they have been […]

Last week, TGA joined over 70 organizations in urging Congress to stop unfair rail storage fees. The letter urges Congress to put rail storage fees under the jurisdiction of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) though the TGA-supported Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which enabled the FMC to regulate demurrage and detention fees at ocean terminals and ports.

Over the last week, shippers have filed new complaints against ocean carriers (1, 2) as the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) noted over $1 million in “complaint refunds” have been awarded to shippers in the 10 months since the TGA-supported Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) went into effect.

On April 6, TGA joined hundreds of organizations in urging Congress to end the Section 301 tariffs, which imposed 25% punitive duties (on top of normal 17.6-20% duties) on U.S. imports of travel goods from China.

Last week, 33 members of Congress urged the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) to ramp up work on the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program (SDAP), a TGA-supported pilot to train 18-20 year-olds to drive trucks. The program is intended to address the systemic trucker shortage that has plagued the U.S. for years. Currently, a driver must be […]

TGA joined almost 200 organizations representing the business community in urging President Biden to intervene in the ongoing West Coast port labor contract negotiations. The last West Coast port labor contract expired July 1, 2022.

Over the last month, dozens of new California Proposition 65 (Prop 65) “60-day” notices have been issued alleging that brands and retailers sold in California travel bags (Notice 1, Notice 2, Notice 3, Notice 4), crossbody/messenger bags (Notice 1, Notice 2, Notice 3), totes (Notice 1, Notice 2), phone/passport cases/bags (Notice 1), wallets (Notice 1, Notice 2), backpacks (Notice 1, Notice 2, Notice 3, Notice […]