Thirty House Democrats joined the sponsor who introduced a bill last month to refund reciprocal tariffs paid by small businesses. Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., publicized the bill Dec. 1. There is a Senate companion bill.
Three House members introduced a bill called the No Gratuitous Overcharging Ubiquitous Global Exports (No GOUGE) Act, which would punish large companies that set prices higher than the costs directly generated by the tariff (though it also allows additional costs for higher wages). "This applies to final goods, goods assembled in the United States, and to components, and to both imposed and planned tariffs. A baseline price determination period of the average price of a good in the preceding 180 days is established for determining an unreasonably high price," a summary of the bill said.
The lead sponsor in the House on a Russia sanctions and secondary sanctions bill said that negotiations are still ongoing between the two chambers on the final language of the bill.
The Council of the EU, which is made up of government ministers from each EU country, voted last week to eliminate customs duties on industrial products and to grant tariff rate quotas for some seafood and agricultural products. It also voted to extend duty-free treatment for U.S. lobster exports. That tariff treatment had expired in July.
Since the United Kingdom's National Health Service has agreed to pay more for new medicines, the Trump administration is pledging "to exempt U.K.-origin pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical ingredients, and medical technology from Section 232 tariffs and will refrain from targeting U.K. pharmaceutical pricing practices in any future Section 301 investigation for the duration of President [Donald] Trump’s term."
Law firms are advising clients of changes to Mexican customs laws that begin Jan. 1, including that customs brokers will be liable if their clients provide false or inaccurate information.
Manufacturing trade groups and companies mostly argued in comments to the U.S. Trade Representative that USMCA rules of origin for their sectors shouldn't change as part of the pact's review, and if they do, it should be only after extensive consultation with industry, and with adequate transition times.
Former trade negotiators said the removal of reciprocal tariffs on agricultural goods not grown at scale in the U.S. is a harbinger of things to come, as the administration starts to recognize that tariffs are politically unpopular.
The Coalition for a Prosperous America reacted with alarm to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's offer that the U.S. could soften its tariffs on European steel and aluminum if the EU changes its approach to regulating American tech giants.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, speaking after a 90-minute meeting with EU and member country counterparts, explicitly linked changes in digital regulation in the EU to relief on 50% tariffs on steel, aluminum and their derivatives, where the value of the metal is taxed.