House Republicans stopped an effort to end the 40% additional tariffs on some Brazilian imports in an evening vote Sept. 15, though two Republicans voted with Democrats. Democrats, led by Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., sought to force a vote on the matter through a discharge petition, which can force a vote on a matter the House leadership does not want to take up. The effort came up short by a margin of 200-198.
President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters just ahead of a visit to King Charles III in England, said the U.K. government would like to "refine the trade deal a little bit ... I'm into helping them." He added, "They'd like to see if they can get a little bit better deal, so we'll talk to them."
Importers who have paid tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act should look to affirmatively safeguard their right to receive refunds should the Supreme Court vacate in some form President Donald Trump's tariffs imposed under the statute, various law firms said. The attorneys issued the alerts in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to hear two cases on the legality of IEEPA tariffs on an expedited basis (see 2509090058).
American appliance manufacturer Whirlpool claimed that its competitors may be evading tariffs on imports of appliances, and the company has raised its concerns with the Trump administration. Whirlpool said that, according to customs data, the declared value of imported home appliances "dropped precipitously" as tariffs took effect, which it said "raises concerns of potential duty evasion."
After two days of talks between U.S. and Chinese officials, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that they and Chinese counterpart Vice Premier He Lifeng have a "framework" for a deal for China's Byte Dance to divest TikTok to U.S. buyers, and that deal will be completed on Sept. 19 as Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump talk about the divestiture.
President Donald Trump posted over the weekend that he is prepared to levy new sanctions against Moscow if U.S. allies stop purchasing Russian oil and potentially put in place other sanctions against the country.
Former U.S. trade representative Michael Froman said the standards set by the World Trade Organization have been under stress for 15 years, and that its principles of global non-discrimination, bound tariff levels and restrictions on what can count as a bilateral or regional trade deal are dead for good.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the leading Republican for a secondary tariffs bill supported by 85 senators, said that he talked to President Donald Trump on Sept. 11 about "moving forward" with secondary tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas. He said he was encouraging him to look upon the Russia sanctions bill as something that would help him, "basically, giving him the authority to do what he's doing, which would help him in court."
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, said he has met with customs brokers each of the last three days, and their main ask is no more executive orders changing tariffs that are released on a Friday afternoon or night and take effect on Monday.
Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and eight other Democrats introduced a bill to require that small businesses receive refunds of the reciprocal tariffs within 90 days.