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.
The U.S. ambassador to NATO suggested this week that the Trump administration won’t sign off on any new Russia sanctions until all EU and NATO members stop buying Russian energy.
President Donald Trump posted on social media that U.S. soybean growers are hurting "because China is, for 'negotiating' reasons only, not buying. We’ve made so much money on Tariffs, that we are going to take a small portion of that money, and help our Farmers. I WILL NEVER LET OUR FARMERS DOWN!"
European officials and Parliament members called on EU member states to double down on Russia-related sanctions implementation and enforcement, saying they know evasion is occurring, but countries have been too slow to act on sanctions rules or haven’t levied large enough penalties. They also expressed frustration that the EU hasn’t yet been able to confiscate frozen Russian assets for Ukraine, even as the European Commission said it’s preparing a proposal that would allow the bloc to indirectly use those funds while still complying with international law.
China is launching a foreign-trade barrier probe on Mexico after the latter country announced plans this month to increase tariffs from certain non-free-trade-agreement countries, including a decision that will reportedly raise tariffs on Chinese cars from 20% to 50%. The investigation also will look into Mexico's duty increases for imports of Chinese textiles, clothing, plastics, steel, home appliances, aluminum, toys, furniture, footwear, leather goods, paper and cardboard, motorcycles and glass.
U.S. export controls on chips are working and should be maintained, not swapped in a trade deal as part of a “grand bargain” between the Trump administration and Beijing (see 2507150013 and 2508010002), said Rush Doshi, former National Security Council official during the Biden administration.
Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, who recently led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Ukraine, Poland and Germany, called on House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Sept. 24 to schedule a House floor vote on the proposed Sanctioning Russia Act, which would impose additional sanctions on Russia and new tariffs on countries that buy its oil and gas.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he and President Donald Trump discussed how to "decisively increase the pressure" on Russian President Vladimir Putin "to get him to agree to a peace deal."
After two days of talks between U.S. and Chinese officials, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that they and Chinese counterpart Vice Premier He Lifeng have a "framework" for a deal for China's Byte Dance to divest TikTok to U.S. buyers, and that deal will be completed on Sept. 19 as Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump talk about the divestiture.
President Donald Trump is getting closer to ramping up financial sanctions pressure against Russia for its failure to agree to a peace deal with Ukraine, said Keith Kellogg, the president’s special envoy for Ukraine.