While all eyes are on the aftermath of the Venezuela strike, the Administration’s trade agenda continues to take shape. The start of 2026 brings a particular focus on the mandated six-year review of United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) due July 1, as well as the impending Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decision on the President’s authority to impose […]

Trade news continues to dominate the headlines from both a geopolitical and economic perspective. Congress remains sidelined by the Administration, but played host to USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer this week and also heard from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Section 232 tariffs this morning. One overlapping aspect of trade and policy that Congress will have […]

US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Under the terms of the renegotiated NAFTA, the updated trilateral agreement provides for a mandated review by July 1, 2026. That process was formally kicked off by the U.S. in September, with USTR seeking public comment. The third and final day of public hearings was held on Friday, December 5. Since then, […]

Late Wednesday night (Thursday morning in Korea), President Trump and President Xi greeted each other on the sidelines of the APEC Summit for their long anticipated in-person trade meeting. The working meeting lasted 90 minutes and concluded with both leaders signing off on a one-year trade agreement. The details of the agreement were negotiated in […]

With President Trump and President Xi set to meet this Thursday, October 30, at APEC in South Korea we are nearing the next major inflection point of global trade negotiations following “Liberation Day,” and the follow-on August 1 reciprocal trade deadline. Notably, this will be Trump’s and Xi’s first in-person meeting since the 2019 G20 […]

Understanding Sector Specific Tariffs In evaluating various sector-specific tariffs and related Administrative actions, it’s important to view each through the lens of President Trump’s America First Trade Policy. From a macro perspective, the President’s trade agenda and overall goals derive from four primary policy areas: Reciprocity (access/revenue) Domestic production (jobs/supply chains) Consumer costs (investment/pricing) Geopolitical […]

Last week, the House passed its version of the FY26 annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a yearly national security policy package that has been signed into law every year for over the past five decades. While there were provisions on China, supply chains, and AI in the base text that the House Armed Services […]

Washington has quieted down with the start of the congressional August Recess. That said, there are a number of items we continue to track that are outlined below. We are happy to provide additional color on anything of particular interest. *** Artificial Intelligence / Chips In addition to opposition from China hawks and congressional Democrats, […]

Following reports of a US/China trade agreement in London, we await final details from both sides. That said, the deal appears to be a limited exchange of rare earths for advanced technology/foreign student visas rather than a more fulsome breakthrough. Below, we outline our views of the emerging agreement, as well as the overall Trump […]

Just before 3:00 a.m. this morning, the House adopted the rule for consideration of the reconciliation bill (H.R. 1, The One Big Beautiful Bill Act), by a vote of 217-212 with Rep. Thomas Massie voting no. The House completed all general debate on the bill at approximately 6:00 a.m. and just now successfully concluded votes […]