Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is asking the Commerce Department to allow exclusions for aluminum and steel products subject to Section 232 tariffs, as they did in the first term, because lobstermen are finding it harder to make a profit due to higher costs.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the top Democrat on a Russian secondary sanctions bill, said he's not discouraged that Senate Majority Leader John Thune is putting off a vote on the bill again. The bill has 85 sponsors in the Senate, and would give the president the ability to put up to 500% tariffs on the goods of countries that buy Russian fossil fuels; it also would expand sanctions on Russian officials.
Rep. Sean Casten, a Democrat from the top soybean-producing state, Illinois, led a letter with 36 other Democrats asking President Donald Trump to terminate the reciprocal tariffs and fentanyl tariffs he levied under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
A bipartisan group of 27 House members, including House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Emeritus Michael McCaul, R-Texas, called on President Donald Trump Oct. 17 to impose “forceful new joint sanctions” on Russia and countries that buy its oil, to pressure Moscow to negotiate a peace deal with Ukraine.
The Senate Appropriations Committee's subcommittee responsible for the Commerce, Justice, Science, and related agencies' spending bill will hear from the U.S. trade representative on Oct. 21. The subcommittee is led by Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan.
Sen. John Kennedy's bill to restore African Growth and Opportunity Act trade preferences retains the third-country fabric provision and extends the program until Sept. 30, 2027.
House Democrats sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to end tariffs on India and repair the "strained" relationship with the country.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he participated this week in the reintroduction of a resolution to terminate the reciprocal tariffs emergency because "that's one of the keys to holding down costs. The President said that was his top priority, and he basically has run as aggressively and quickly as he could to get out from under it. And what we're doing, in a bipartisan way, is saying: If you're serious about holding down costs, you have to go out and fix these horrible tariffs that are jacking up costs all over."
House Select Committee on China ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., urged the Trump administration Oct. 8 to open new markets for U.S. soybean exports in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said late Oct. 7 that he hopes to have the Senate take up his Russia sanctions and tariff bill by month’s end to send a message to next month’s Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting in Canada.