Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher’s Committee on China Hosts Roundtable Event on Chinese Communist Threat to U.S. Manufacturing

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party will be in manufacturing-dependent Wisconsin Wednesday afternoon for a roundtable discussion on communist China’s “deliberate undermining of American manufacturing,” according to a press release.

Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08) will host the roundtable beginning at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Stoughton, WI.

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Commentary: Ukraine Crisis Reveals New Bipartisan Energy Opportunities

city factory at night

In just the last three weeks, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has significantly altered our national energy policy landscape and dramatically shifted the political dynamics around legislative priorities and political possibilities in Congress. The roiling of global oil markets, underpinned by an already tight supply situation from the post-pandemic economic awakening, has been driven by perceived risks of supply disruption caused by the Russian invasion. Risk premiums and a formal American embargo of Russian energy have sent prices skyrocketing and revealed, once again, that we have few good short-term options when faced with energy supply challenges. While our tools are limited today, the current moment may present an important window of opportunity to develop a policy approach that reduces this vulnerability and limits our exposure next time. This renewed attention to energy security combined with a focus on fighting energy inflation has the potential to galvanize a bipartisan policy pathway that would have been unthinkable as the year began.

The broad support that materialized in Congress and the White House for a ban on Russian oil and natural gas imports earlier this month is a case in point. Remarkably, widespread congressional support for the ban occurred despite already high gasoline prices, with oil prices well over $100 a barrel and gasoline averaging more than $4.30 a gallon across the nation.

As President Biden said when announcing the ban, “Americans have rallied to support the Ukrainian people and have made it clear we will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war… This is a step that we’re taking to inflict further pain on Putin, but there will be costs as well here in the United States.”

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As Gas Prices Reach Record Highs, Biden Bans Russian Oil Imports

President Joe Biden announced a ban on the importation of Russian oil, coal and gas as a response to the nation’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine just as gas prices in the U.S. reached a record high Tuesday.

Biden said Tuesday that the decision was intended to “inflict further pain” on Russian President Vladimir Putin and defund his war in Ukraine. He also acknowledged it would further raise the price of gasoline for Americans.

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Trump Notches a Big Win Against Russia After Merkel Folds on US Gas Imports

by Chris White   German Chancellor Angela Merkel is offering government support for a for project that would supply Germany with U.S. natural gas — the move comes as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to loosen Russia’s hold on Europe’s energy markets. Merkel told lawmakers in early October that her government will co-finance the construction of a $576 million liquefied natural gas shipping terminal, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The project had failed for years to gain any traction in a country that receives the bulk of its gas from Russia. Trump has lobbied intensely for European countries — Germany in particular — to shift their energy imports from Russia to the U.S., if for no other reason than to diversify their energy markets. He told world leaders at a Group of 20 summit in 2017 that the U.S. wants to make it easier for companies to ship natural gas products to Eastern Europe. German and U.S. officials said Berlin is hoping that forging ahead on the project might help lessen the possibility of Washington leveling sanctions against Nord Stream 2, an unbuilt gas pipeline that would double Russia’s energy exports to Germany. Some U.S. officials believe the White House’s…

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Trump: Sometimes ‘Trade Wars Are Good’

President Donald Trump responded Friday to strong criticisms that his pursuit of punitive trade measures will trigger a trade war with a tweet arguing that sometimes “trade wars are good.” Following recent decisions to place tariffs on imported washing machines, solar panels, and aluminum foil, the president announced Thursday that the U.S. will put tariffs of 25 percent on foreign-made steel and 10 percent on aluminum. This move was set in motion by a Department of Commerce report released last month that recommended restricting imports of foreign steel and aluminum to protect national security.

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