PSW Weekly Round-Up - 3/17

Legislative Update

Congress. Both the House and Senate are in recess until March 24, having acted last week to approve a continuing resolution to fund government programs through Sept. 30.

Special House Elections. The recent deaths of two Democratic members mean the House now has 218 Republicans, 213 Democrats, and four vacancies. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona’s 7^th District died March 13 after a battle with lung cancer. To fill his seat, a special primary election will be held July 15 and the general election will be Sept. 23.

Rep. Sylvester Turner of Texas’s 18^th District, who was elected in November to the seat held by long-time member Sheila Jackson Lee, died March 5. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has not yet set a date for a special election. In a Texas special election, there are no primaries and all candidates run on the same ballot. If no candidate receives a majority, there will be a runoff. Both Grijalva’s and Turner’s seats are in districts that are expected to stay in the Democratic column.

The other two House vacancies are in Republican districts in Florida and will be filled by special elections on April 1. In the 1^st District, Republican Jimmy Patronis is expected to prevail in the race to replace Rep. Matt Gaetz, who resigned in November. Patronis is the state’s chief financial officer and previously served in the Florida House of Representatives. In the 6^th District, Republican Randy Fine is favored to win the seat of Mike Waltz, who resigned in January to become the President’s national security advisor. Fine served four terms in the state House before his election to the state Senate in November.

Tariff Tracker. Since our last update, there have been a number of developments on the tariff front:

• March 10
  • China retaliates against Trump’s 20% tariffs by imposing additional tariffs on key American farm products and restricting exports to 15 American companies. The additional tariffs include a 15% tariff on chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton and a 10% tariff on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, seafood, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. (On Feb. 4, Trump imposed 10% tariffs on Chinese imports and then doubled the tariffs to 20% on March 4. China retaliated to the 10% tariffs by imposing a 15% tariff on U.S. coal and liquefied natural gas and a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and other products, effective Feb. 10.)

• March 11
  • Ontario Premier Ford suspends the 25% surcharge on electricity exported to New York, Michigan, and Minnesota that was imposed March 10, and Trump backs off his threat to impose a 50% tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum.

• March 12
  • Trump imposes 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
  • Canada, the largest foreign supplier of these metals to the U.S., responds by imposing 25% tariffs on $20.6 billion worth of U.S. goods, effective 12:01 a.m. on March 13. The tariffs target U.S. steel products worth $8.8 billion, aluminum products worth $2 billion, and other U.S. imports, including computers and sports equipment.
  • The European Union responds by promising to impose 50% import tariffs on U.S. whiskey, motorcycles, and motorboats, starting April 1, and additional tariffs beginning in mid-April on American chewing gum, poultry, soybeans, and other goods.

• March 13
  • Trump responds to EU’s response by threatening a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne, and spirits if the EU goes forward with its 50% tariff on American whiskey.

• April 2
  • 25% U.S. tariffs scheduled to go into effect on all products from Mexico and Canada. [On March 6, Trump delayed tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada so long as they meet the content requirements of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).]
  • Trump to impose reciprocal tariffs to address other countries’ tariffs and non-tariff barriers on the U.S. The reciprocal tariffs will match those of the trading partner, including the EU, China, India, Mexico, and Canada. Actual implementation of the tariffs could take several months.
  • Canada plans to impose retaliatory tariffs on an additional C$100 billion worth of U.S. goods.

Recent Executive Actions of Note

On March 14, President Trump signed an Executive Order cutting funding to several agencies, including the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees the Voice of America, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian Institution. A separate EO signed the same day rescinded a number of President Biden’s executive actions, including one that raised the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 an hour (currently $17.75, adjusted for inflation). These two EOs and other recent actions include:

• Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua - March 15, 2025
• Continuing The Reduction Of The Federal Bureaucracy - March 14, 2025
• Additional Rescissions Of Harmful Executive Orders And Actions - March 14, 2025
• Ensuring the Enforcement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c) - March 11, 2025

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