For more information on pursuing trade policy interests through the legislative process, please contact Nicole Bivens Collinson at (202) 730-4956 or via email.
Tariffs. The Homebuilding Materials Tariff Relief Act (H.R. 9977, introduced July 30 by Rep. Beyer, D-Va.) would (1) exempt a series of homebuilding products from all tariffs imposed since Jan. 20, 2025, except duties imposed under apolitical tariff actions like trade remedies, safeguards, and trade agreement dispute settlement, (2) require Congress to enact a joint resolution of approval for tariffs to be reimposed on listed products, and (3) provide that future tariffs can only be reimposed on listed products if national housing affordability has improved.
Labeling. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions amended and approved July 27 the CLEAR LABELS Act (S. 3788), which would require drug labeling to include original manufacturer and supply chain information.
The Food Labeling Modernization Act (S. 5166, introduced July 29 by Sen. Blumenthal, D-Conn.) would strengthen requirements related to nutrient information on food labels by (1) directing the Food and Drug Administration to establish a single, standard front-of-package nutrition labeling system in a timely manner for all food products required to bear nutrition labeling, (2) addressing trends in marketing that confuse or mislead consumers, including by defining terms like “ultra-processed” and “not ultra-processed,” and (3) ensuring that consumers have access to the same nutrition information when shopping for food online as they would in brick-and-mortar locations.
Exports. The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations approved July 27 the UNLOCK AUKUS Act (S. 4709), which would expand the Australia-United Kingdom-U.S. partnership by (1) enabling eligible Missile Technology Control Regime-related items that are not registered on the excluded technology list or the government-to-government list to benefit from the AUKUS license-free environment, (2) establishing a secure, predictable pathway for the transfer of goods and technology controlled by the MTCR for AUKUS partners within the trusted community of AUKUS authorized users, and (3) maintaining full compliance with non-proliferation commitments under the MTCR.
Sen. Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Bureau of Industry and Security chief Jeffrey Kessler July 29 raising concerns that BIS has stopped issuing timely export control licenses, failed to meaningfully update its Entity List, and rescinded or failed to enforce key regulations. Specifically, she noted that (1) the average processing time for export license applications increased from 38 days in 2023 to 62 days in 2025, (2) BIS has not made any additions to its Entity List since Oct 9, 2025, and reportedly refused to add more than 100 companies flagged as national security risks, and (3) suspended the “affiliates rule” that would have prevented companies on the Entity List from evading export controls through partial ownership of third-party companies. Warren asked BIS to provide by Aug. 12 answers to a number of related questions.
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