Former trade lawyer Scott Lincicome, who now leads the libertarian Cato Institute's trade division, said the administration learned the natural consequences of Section 301 tariffs when Chinese goods flow to India, Mexico and Vietnam as inputs to manufactured goods that are created in those countries.
President Donald Trump, speaking with reporters July 25 before boarding a flight to Scotland, downplayed the possibility of reaching an agreement to impose lower than his threatened 30% tariff on EU exports.
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., is leading a bipartisan effort to convince Mexico to stop its effort to seize the port owned by Vulcan Materials Company, on the Caribbean coast.
A bipartisan group in the House publicized a letter they sent last month to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, asking him to remove 10% tariffs on coffee, and to avoid hiking tariffs on coffee beans in future deals.
Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., joined by two moderate Republicans, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and other Democrats, introduced a bill this week that would exempt small businesses from paying tariffs levied on Canada under the fentanyl emergency. Small businesses are defined by the Small Business Administration, based on either average employment or recent annual revenues, and some manufacturers can have as many as 1,500 employees. Small retailers, depending on the sector, may qualify with annual revenues at or below $9 million to $47 million.
President Donald Trump, speaking at an event on artificial intelligence July 23, told the audience that for countries that are smaller trading partners, there will be a tariff imposed on their goods between 15% and 50%.
Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., a lead sponsor of the Prevent Tariff Abuse Act, has convinced 71 other Democrats to join her in clarifying that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn't give a president the ability to impose quotas, tariff rate quotas or tariffs on imports.
Although a majority of the Senate voted to end the underlying emergency that allowed the president to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian goods, a vote was blocked in the House.
At a reception for lawmakers, President Donald Trump complained that Ozempic costs almost $1,300 in the U.S., and only $88 in England, and that countries with price controls on prescription drugs must change their policies.
Two of the lead negotiators in the Cabinet -- Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent -- avoided directly answering an interviewer's question about whether 15% is the lowest reciprocal tariff rate trading partners like Taiwan, the EU and South Korea can receive.