Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., released a letter she sent Sept. 24 to Rolex CEO Jean-Frederic Dufour, asking him whether he used Rolex's luxury box at the U.S. Open Tennis Championship as a venue to lobby President Donald Trump and his staff about exempting luxury watches from 39% reciprocal tariffs on Swiss exports.
The Commerce Department launched an investigation on Sept. 2 on the import of industrial machinery and robotics, and whether domestic producers should be protected in order to improve U.S. national security.
The Commerce Department revealed it started an investigation three weeks ago on the import of and supply chains for personal protective equipment, medical consumables, medical equipment and medical devices.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., introduced a bill last week to direct the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to prioritize convincing Canada and Mexico to institute a foreign investment review board similar to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS.
Three Democrats and Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., introduced a bill to end tariffs on imported coffee, and return them to the duty-free status they had before the administration imposed 10% tariffs on Colombia, 50% tariffs on Brazil, and 20% tariffs on Vietnam.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, at the Council on Foreign Relations, emphasized that Canada is aware that its proximity to the U.S. is no longer so enviable, since U.S. economic strategy "has clearly changed, from the support for the multilateral system to a more transactional and managed bilateral trade and investment approach."
The House of Representatives voted 217-212 to extend current levels of federal spending through Nov. 21, but the Senate was not able to find the 60 votes needed to approve the same approach.
A former FDA overseas inspector told a Senate committee that in India and China fraud is common, including with falsified purity tests, and at times, lies about where pharmaceutical drugs are made.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he and President Donald Trump discussed how to "decisively increase the pressure" on Russian President Vladimir Putin "to get him to agree to a peace deal."
The House of Representatives voted 213-211 to prevent any votes to end emergencies underlying reciprocal tariffs, fentanyl tariffs or the additional Brazil tariffs -- however, the vote nearly went the other way.