April 07,2022

Wyden Statement on Selection for Competition Legislation Conference Committee

Washington, D.C. -- Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement, after being named to the conference committee to finalize legislation boosting America’s economic competitiveness and address supply chain issues:

“This legislation has the potential to unlock American innovation, and red-white-and-blue jobs, as long as Congress gets it right. The Senate’s bipartisan bill levels the speedbumps that are slowing down supply chains, and give our trade enforcers new tools to go after the growing scourges of Chinese censorship, forced labor and trade cheating. I’m looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting it done, ” Wyden said.

The Senate competition bill passed on a bipartisan 68-32 vote last year. It included:

  • More than $50 billion in grants and incentives for semiconductor research and domestic manufacturing, which will help companies in the Silicon Forest design and produce chips in Oregon.  
  • New tools to help U.S. Customs crack down on imports made with forced labor, including seafood that unfairly competes with fish caught off the Oregon Coast. In addition to being morally repugnant, forced labor disadvantages Oregon businesses, workers and fishers.
  • $10 billion for the Department of Commerce to help cities establish themselves as regional technology hubs for researching, developing and manufacturing key technologies. 
  • An extension of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) with important updates to GSP eligibility rules that ensure trade policy rewards advances in human rights, women’s economic empowerment, labor, environment, rule of law and digital trade, among others.

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