Two Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee asked Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative nominee Jamieson Greer to "commit to putting in place a transparent and objective process that protects America’s small businesses and workers" if they decide to grant exclusions to new tariffs imposed by Donald Trump.
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, has reintroduced a bill to impose a blanket 10% additional tariff on all imports, in line with President-elect Donald Trump's campaign promises.
No goods subject to special trade remedies -- 99.9% of which are subject to Section 301 tariffs -- would be able to enter as de minimis shipments under a proposed rule released by CBP Jan. 17.
Reps. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and Don Beyer, D-Va., reintroduced a bill that would remove the possibility of a president using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act to impose quotas or tariffs. Most lawyers think Trump would use IEEPA for a global tariff. The statute is currently used to impose sanctions on parties in Iran, Belarus, Burma, Ethiopia and dozens of other countries.
Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for treasury secretary, told the Senate Finance Committee that they should think about how tariffs will be deployed by thinking of three categories.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in a Jan. 15 speech at the Detroit Auto Show, criticized President-elect Donald Trump's proposal to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian exports as one that would damage Michigan's auto sector, which employs, or leads to indirect employment of, more than a million people in the state -- a fifth of the workforce.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that senators are starting to have conversations about what incoming President Donald Trump might do on tariffs, and said, "We'll work through that."
Kevin Brady, who led the House Ways and Means Committee when Congress passed the Trump tax cut package, told reporters that Washington insiders expect "the [next Trump] administration will reinstate [Section] 301 investigations" that were begun when countries moved to collect digital services taxes from U.S. tech firms.
Officials advising Donald Trump on his upcoming administration have been considering tariffs that would gradually increase by 2% to 5% a month, according to a Bloomberg News article based on unnamed sources. The proposal could boost negotiating leverage and avoid a spike in prices, the planners believe. The article said the proposal is in its early phases and hasn't been presented to the president-elect.
President-elect Donald Trump announced plans Jan. 14 to establish an "External Revenue Service" that would collect monies from tariffs, duties and all revenue coming from foreign sources, in a Truth Social post.