The House of Representatives passed bills related to trade and economic security: addressing IP protection, procurement of Uyghur Region-origin goods, Chinese cultural missions in the US, and Export License reporting to Congress.
Friday's surprise announcement that the Commerce Department has opened a Section 232 investigation on the import of commercial aircraft, jet engines and parts further confirms the embrace of the mechanism by the Trump administration. Since January 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce has initiated seven Section 232 investigations under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, focusing on imports deemed critical to national security.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced today the launch of a pilot Fast Track Program aimed at streamlining foreign investment review for investors from allied and partner nations. The initiative includes the development of a “Known Investor” portal to allow the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to collect preliminary information from eligible investors before formal filings.
America’s leadership in drug innovation is eroding as pharmaceutical companies increasingly source new compounds from China, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb warns in STAT. In 2024, one-third of all new drugs licensed by U.S. firms originated in Chinese labs — a stark contrast to five years ago, when that number was zero.
Two congressional China Hawks have called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to delist Chinese companies tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from U.S. exchanges, citing serious national security concerns and investor risks
On May 2, 2025, the Trump administration submitted its discretionary budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2026, calling for a $163 billion cut (approximately 23%) in non-defense discretionary spending compared to FY2025, while increasing defense funding by 13% to $1.01 trillion and allocating $175 billion to border security. A portion of this increase—$325 billion—is expected to be enacted via reconciliation. The Commerce budget includes $134 million in targeted investments to "strengthen trade enforcement and aggressively protect American innovation." This includes an additional $122 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security, a more than 50-percent increase, while cutting $145 million from the category "International Trade Administration – Global Markets."
C+I+G+(X-M). For all the scientifically notated plumage economists and policy makers clutch as adornment, the arithmetic of Gross Domestic Product is cruelly simple. Consumption, Investment and Government Spending, plus Net Exports makes an economy. In the first quarter of 2025, US net exports reduced the GDP by nearly five points, the greatest drag since 1947.
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender emphasized the Trump Administration’s commitment to balancing foreign investment with national security at the American Conference Institute’s CFIUS Conference Thursday April 24, , detailing the Administration’s initiatives under the newly issued “America First Investment Policy.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 to 2.8%, down from 3.3% in January, citing a sharp rise in tariffs and growing policy uncertainty. The United States faces one of the steepest revisions, with growth now projected at 1.8%, compared to a previous estimate of 2.7%.
As of April 25, 2025, seven lawsuits have been filed challenging President Trump’s imposition of tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 statute traditionally used for targeted economic sanctions.
The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party has issued subpoenas to China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom—three state-owned Chinese telecommunications firms—for failing to respond to a bipartisan request for information dated March 4. The subpoenas, which require compliance by May 7, 2025, are part of an ongoing congressional investigation into whether the companies continue to operate within the United States in ways that may endanger national security or compromise the privacy of U.S. citizens.
A confidential State Department memo obtained by Nextgov/FCW and Defense One advises U.S. diplomats to warn international partners against doing business with Chinese satellite communications providers, citing risks of espionage and military exploitation by Beijing. The memo also addresses the geopolitical implications of relying on U.S.-based satellite services, notably SpaceX’s Starlink.
On April 3, 2025, the Trump Administration announced the America First Trade Policy Report, a 24-chapter document addressing U.S. trade imbalances, non-reciprocal practices, and national security concerns. The reports themselves were not made public, rather the White House released a brief summary of the report, noting that chapters include reviews of unfair foreign trade practices, renegotiation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and assessments of foreign currency manipulation and existing trade agreements.
Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party today released a report identifying DeepSeek, a Chinese AI platform, as a direct threat to U.S. national security.
The U.K. Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged United Insurance Brokers Limited (UIBL) with failing to prevent bribery by its associates in a case involving multimillion-dollar reinsurance contracts in Ecuador. UIBL, a London-based reinsurance firm, is accused of allowing U.S.-based intermediaries to bribe Ecuadorean officials between October 2013 and March 2016 in exchange for awarding contracts valued at approximately $38 million. The contracts were issued by state-owned insurers covering Ecuador’s public sector infrastructure, including water and electricity companies.
Continuing his crusade against Chinese batterymakers, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI) sent a letter to the CEOs of two banks "demanding the banks withdraw from their role" in the upcoming Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL).
The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) is preparing to implement sweeping changes that will expand foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI) reviews to thousands of unclassified U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contracts, marking a major shift in federal acquisition policy under Section 847 of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (FY20 NDAA).
The Trump administration is revising its proposed port fees on Chinese-built vessels as it implements a sweeping Executive Order aimed at restoring American maritime strength. The administration reportedly plans to reduce the burden on exporters by basing fees largely on vessel capacity and easing charges on ships carrying U.S. agricultural exports such as soybeans and timber.
President Trump signed an Executive Order today directing a full-scale effort to rebuild U.S. commercial shipbuilding and maritime labor capacity, citing national security risks from decades of decline.
In a speech April 7th to the Hudson Institute, Council of Economic Advisors Chair Steven Miran argued that the United States has long borne an outsized cost in delivering what economists term “global public goods”—namely, international security and a stable financial system—and called for other nations to shoulder a the burden.