As tariff negotiations continue and Congress turns towards its late-summer agenda, we are monitoring the following:
Countries continue to engage with the U.S. amid the extended pause on reciprocal tariffs. Despite previous extensions, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick confirmed that August 1 is a “hard deadline” for implementation. The White House has also established an August 12 deadline to reimpose retaliatory tariffs on China if no deal is reached before then.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that talks with China are in a good place with negotiations potentially shifting toward Beijing’s purchases of sanctioned Russian and Iranian oil.
- Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is in Washington this week, meeting with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and likely President Trump later in the week. Marcos will be the first Southeast Asian leader to meet with Trump during his second term and aims to leverage the visit to advance a trade agreement ahead of the August 1 deadline.
- Taiwan announced that a fourth round of trade talks will be held this week. Spokesperson Michelle Lee reaffirmed Taiwan’s commitment to “balanced bilateral trade and enhancing mutual benefit between Taiwan and the U.S.”
- South African officials are signaling opposition to any agreement that fully removes U.S. goods, adopting a firmer posture than other current negotiating partners.
- European Union envoys plan to meet as early as this week to coordinate their strategy should talks with the U.S. collapse before August 1 – even as Secretary Lutnick expresses confidence a deal is within reach.
- Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) today led a bipartisan delegation to Canada to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney. The delegation sought to reaffirm U.S. commitment to the bilateral trade relationship and called to “reinvigorate” the USMCA when it comes up for review.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell continues to face criticism from the Trump administration over his refusal to lower interest rates. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent today called for a full review of “the entire Federal Reserve Institution,” accusing the Fed of “fear-mongering over tariffs.” Separately, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought raised concerns over mismanagement of the $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s headquarters. Although President Trump has been publicly critical of Powell, he has signaled that he will not remove the Chair unless he is found to have committed fraud.
President Trump plans to unveil his Artificial Intelligence Action Plan on Wednesday and sign a series of executive orders to enact new federal policies surrounding AI. The Action Plan is the result of an order from the President earlier this year to craft a comprehensive framework for the development of AI technology in the U.S. and reportedly will focus on reducing regulatory barriers, easing permitting for new AI infrastructure investments, promoting innovation in collaboration with the private sector and foreign allies, and establishing international standards for AI security.
Following passage of the $9.4 billion recissions package last week, Congress now pivots to appropriations. The Senate will vote this week on the MilCon/VA appropriations bill, which will serve as an important test of how much support Democrats are willing to give through the budget process in the post-reconciliation environment.
- With fewer than 20 legislative days remaining before the September 30 fiscal deadline, members are increasingly likely to opt for a continuing resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown. However, Democrats are indicating that they are unlikely to help Republicans avoid a shutdown, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said that Democratic leadership “probably thinks” that a shutdown in early October “is beneficial to their political base.”
The Senate continues to process President Trump’s nominees. On Saturday, President Trump called on Majority Leader Thune to keep the Senate in session through the August recess to continue confirming his nominees, which may result in changes to next month’s schedule.
- This week, the Senate plans to vote on the following nominations:
- Terrance Cole (Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator)
- John Hurley (Under Secretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Crimes)
- Arielle Roth (Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information)
- Bradley Hansell (Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security)
- Aaron Lukas (Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence)
- Additional judicial nominations include Cristian Stevens, nominated for District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri.