The White House on May 31 extended a one-year exception for 25% tariffs on steel from Ukraine, one day before the waiver was set to expire (see 2205310061. This will be the third year Ukrainian steel has been allowed to avoid the tariffs.

The U.S. and Kenya committed to try to conclude the U.S.-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment partnership by the end of the year, they said in a joint statement.

Full details about the Section 301 exclusion process will be revealed next week, but a White House memo said that importers of machinery in chapters 84 and 85 will need to submit requests for exclusions, even though the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative already has compiled a list of HTS codes it sees as appropriate targets for exclusions. The memo said there will be a way to register opposition to those requests, as well. The memo said the USTR "shall prioritize, in particular, exclusions for certain solar manufacturing equipment."

President Joe Biden signed into law on May 13 a ban on the import of Russian uranium; the ban takes effect Sept. 16. Roughly one-fifth of nuclear power plants run on Russian uranium; the bill does allow the Energy Department to grant waivers to the ban if there is no other viable source of the fuel. However, the allowed waiver amount would decline each year, and no waiver would be allowed after 2027.

Bloomberg reported that the White House will release the Section 301 tariffs review next week, with higher tariffs on electric vehicles, batteries and solar cells. The report said it's unclear if there will be any tariff reductions, "though large-scale reductions aren’t expected."

The White House told the Senate that it strongly opposes an effort to undo the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's finding that fresh beef imports from Paraguay are safe.

President Joe Biden came out against the purchase of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel, saying in a post on X: "I told our steel workers I have their backs, and I meant it. U.S. Steel has been an iconic American company for more than a century -- it’s vital that it remain domestically owned and operated."

The White House is requesting $239 million in funding to hire an additional 1,000 CBP officers “to stop illicit fentanyl and other contraband from entering the U.S.,” it said in a fact sheet released March 11 alongside President Joe Biden’s FY 2025 budget request. The funding had already been sought in October as part of an emergency supplemental request but had gone unmet by Congress, the fact sheet said. The budget request also seeks “$34 million" for CBP and ICE "to combat child exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking,” the fact sheet said.

The Biden administration on Feb. 21 announced a series of actions intended to strengthen cybersecurity at U.S. ports, including mandatory incident reporting requirements and minimum cybersecurity standards for ports and vessels.

Former President Donald Trump, in a television appearance with Maria Bartiromo, bragged about the "big tariffs" he put in to stop the import of Chinese steel, and denied a Washington Post report that he is thinking about imposing a flat 60% tariff on Chinese imports if reelected.