The Congressional Budget Office updated its estimate of how much tariffs would reduce the federal deficit, if they stayed in place for 10 years, now saying they would reduce it by $2.5 trillion rather than $3.3 trillion (not counting saved interest costs).
The Senate Commerce Committee voted 20-8 Nov. 19 to approve the nomination of Laura DiBella to fill one of two vacancies on the Federal Maritime Commission. Her nomination now heads to the full Senate for its consideration. DiBella and fellow nominee Robert Harvey both pledged last month to vigorously enforce the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 if confirmed by the Senate (see 2510220029). The committee has not announced a vote on Harvey.
Sponsors of the No Coffee Tax Act lauded the president's decision to roll back reciprocal tariffs on coffee, but Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, D-Nev., noted that the additional 40% tariffs on Brazilian coffee were unchanged. She said Nov. 17 that Brazil is the top source of American coffee.
The bipartisan group of senators that demanded votes to terminate the emergencies that underlie reciprocal tariffs, Brazil tariffs and Canada tariffs wrote to House Speaker Mike Johnson, urging him to schedule the same votes in his chamber.
A year after the U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended that de minimis be terminated, and that normal trading relations with China be terminated, only one of its top 10 recommendations was about the treatment of imports. Its annual report for 2025 recommends that Congress ban the import of energy storage systems that have remote monitoring capabilities, if they are made by Chinese companies or their technology was licensed by Chinese companies. Most utility-scale storage batteries are lithium-ion, and 80% of those batteries are made in China.
Congress will move toward a vote on a bill that gives the president the authority to hike tariffs on goods from countries that buy Russian energy, and directs him to prohibit banking transactions and foreign exchange transactions for Russian companies doing business with companies or banks in other countries.
Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., sent a letter to Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick demanding information on its involvement with a Chinese company on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List.
House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, introduced a bill that would either require the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to seek a dispute settlement panel over Mexican energy policies, or to make compliance with USMCA in energy a condition of continuing a pact.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the ranking member of the House Select Committee on China, is asking Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to tell him whether allied governments were consulted before the White House announced that chip exports from Nexperia's China factory would resume, suggesting that the EU was caught flat-footed at the development. Nexperia makes semiconductors used in automobiles.
Arkansas’ six-member congressional delegation urged U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Nov. 6 to delay implementation of the new U.S.-EU trade deal (see 2507280027 and 2508210017) until the EU revises its deforestation reporting requirements. In a letter to Greer, the lawmakers reiterated their view that the regulation would harm American timber exports (see 2503170052). Greer’s office didn't respond to a request for comment.