Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said after two days of meeting with Chinese negotiators, he anticipates a threatened additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods won't come Nov. 1, and that the Chinese will defer their critical minerals export control licensing scheme.
The Trump administration said it has secured, or soon will secure, commitments from Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to cooperate on export controls, investment restrictions and other economic-security-related trade measures.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, has been working with the Treasury Department to sanction Colombia's President Gustavo Petro and his "associates and enablers" for their suspected role in drug trafficking, the lawmaker said late Oct. 22.
A former State Department analyst on export control and sanctions evasion under President Joe Biden and a former National Security Council director for China under President George W. Bush agreed that the Bureau of Industry and Security's 50% rule was not fully thought through before its announcement.
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The Senate Commerce Committee approved a bill Oct. 21 that would direct the Commerce Department to lead a review of challenges posed by Chinese foreign investment in the U.S. (see 2508010044).
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.
President Donald Trump told reporters that unless China stops fentanyl shipments, resumes buying U.S. soybeans and stops playing "the rare earth game with us," he won't lower tariffs.
Two Asia Society Policy Institute experts said the readouts from the call over the weekend between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng suggest the call was mostly logistical, planning for the next round of talks in Malaysia.
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.