The 25% tariffs on upholstered furniture, and wooden cabinets and vanities will continue throughout 2026, instead of increasing to 30% for furniture and 50% for cabinets and vanities, as initially indicated in September (see 2509300017).
Congress may want to assert itself on trade in softwood lumber, whether by codifying higher tariffs to protect the U.S. lumber industry, or by pushing for a new softwood lumber agreement to end trade remedies. A Dec. 30 Congressional Research Service report also said that Congress could commission a report "on the benefits and costs of softwood lumber duties for the U.S. economy."
The White House said it has made an agreement with Israel to offer permanent concessions on some agricultural products, the outlines of which were first established in 2004, but since there needs to be more time to make the permanent modifications, it is offering one more year of duty-free access.
The U.S. and Indonesia "have agreed on the substance stipulated in the reciprocal trade negotiation document," Indonesia said in a Dec. 23 news release, according to an unofficial translation. It said technical meetings for legal scrubbing would be held in the second week of January, and the agreement should be signed by the third week of January.
Two apparel trade experts said the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act had a bigger impact on sourcing shifts than this year's trade war, but if the framework agreements with Guatemala and El Salvador turn into full agreements, the duty-free status for qualifying apparel from those countries could make a difference.
Thirteen House Democrats are asking DHS to explain why there have been fewer detentions since March, why no new entities have been added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List since Jan. 15, and to explain CBP's strategy for enforcing UFLPA in high-priority sectors.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that while China has been burdening U.S. commerce with its non-market practices to develop its semiconductor industry, it won't be hiking Section 301 tariffs on Chinese chips until June 2027.
The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, criticized U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for the U.S.'s communique declaring that the era of most-favored nation tariff rates is over (see 2512160045). In a letter sent last week, Wyden said, "MFN has been integral to U.S. trade policy and a core principle of the international trading system for nearly 80 years, and it ensures that U.S. goods and services can compete on a level playing field in international markets without being targeted with unfair tariffs or regulations."
CBP should write a report on whether self-initiation of cases under the Enforce and Protect Act "would allow CBP to pursue more circumvention cases and extend existing investigations deeper into supply chains fully and whether such authority would result in greater enforcement," wrote the Senate Appropriations Committee, in its instructions to CBP as part of its DHS annual appropriations bill. It directed the agency to compile the report within 90 days of the bill's enactment.
White House Chief Economic Adviser Kevin Hassett said that refunding tariffs paid by importers "would be very complicated." He said that those importers of record would then have to allocate that money to retailers.