The Trump administration imposes additional wide-ranging tariffs as legal challenges to the administration’s actions continue.
The Trump administration executed its long-promised imposition of wide-ranging tariffs this week, while it continued efforts to reduce the federal workforce and faced ongoing legal challenges.
Latham lawyers are carefully monitoring the rollout of President Trump’s policy priorities through executive orders, agency actions, and installment of new personnel. Below is a high-level overview of these actions over the past week, broken down by topic, along with updates on related court challenges, personnel changes, and other breaking developments in their implementation.
Trade and Tariffs
This week, the president issued an executive order which imposed a sweeping 10% tariff on all imported goods, as well as additional import taxes on goods from approximately 60 countries and territories. President Trump also signed an executive order eliminating duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value imports from China, intended to combat the opioid crisis. For an overview of the current tariff landscape, including these recent developments, see this blog post.
The president is facing some resistance to his trade and tariff policies, which Latham will continue to monitor:
- The Senate passed a bill that would remove tariffs from Canada. While the bill has not made it through the House, the president has vowed to veto it.
- A non-profit group also filed suit against the federal government over how it imposed steep new levies on Chinese imports earlier this year.
The president also directed the Secretary of Commerce to establish a United States Investment Accelerator to facilitate and accelerate investments over $1 billion in the United States. The Accelerator is intended to work by assisting investors in navigating US government regulatory processes efficiently and by reducing regulatory burdens.
Federal Workforce and Spending
- Late in the evening of March 27, the administration filed suit against the country’s largest federal worker union, American Federation of Government Employees, seeking to invalidate existing collective employment contracts between government employees and agencies. The administration explained that it brought the action because these contracts interfere with the administration’s goals.
- On April 1, five days after Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced plans for a “dramatic restructuring” of the department and its subagencies, HHS began implementing a significant reduction in force of staff. News reports suggest that more than 10,000 workers have been affected, including entire offices and much of the Food and Drug Administration’s media and communications staff. For more information, please refer to this blog post.
- In addition to the ongoing workforce reductions at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), news reports indicate that the president asked the agency to cut $2.9 billion of its spending on contracts.
Personnel Moves
- On April 1, the president nominated Susan Monarez to be Director of the CDC. Her nomination is pending before the Senate.
Elections
- The Trump administration is facing four lawsuits in response to last week’s proposed changes to the federal voter registration form to include a requirement that Americans must show a copy of a proof of citizenship document to register to vote in federal elections.
