The afternoon of his inauguration, January 20,  President Trump issued his America First Trade Policy, calling for his Secretaries of Commerce and Treasury to prepare a broad array of comprehensive reports for his review by April 1. Following a ruthless purge of the ranks of career civil servants customarily involved in the preparation of such studies, it is an open question how thorough and well informed the reports are.

Current planning documents in the Trump White House reportedly call for staff reductions  of 30 percent at the Commerce Department..   Earlier reporting had cited a goal at Commerce to slash 20 percent of workers, or nearly 10,000 employees.

The United States has informed the World Trade Organization that it will not be paying its share of the organization's operating expenses until it had conducted a review, the timing of which is uncertain.

A federal indictment unsealed March 27 charges a dual Pakistan-Canada citizen for running a procurement scheme to acquire U.S.-origin goods and technologies on behalf of Pakistani entities linked to the country’s nuclear, missile, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs.

A civil forfeiture complaint was filed March 26 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that $47 million in proceeds from the sale of nearly one million barrels of Iranian petroleum is forfeitable as property of, or affording a person a source of influence over, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or its Qods Force (IRGC-QF), designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated five individuals and three companies involved in a Lebanon-based sanctions evasion network that supports Hizballah’s finance operations. The designated entities are tied to a network managing commercial enterprises and oil smuggling operations in coordination with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to fund Hizballah’s terrorist activities.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) may be preparing for the elimination of the Technical Advisory Committees (TACs)  which have long defined the collaborative nature of  export enforcement and trade security.   Of the six TACs chartered, only one, Emerging Technologies, has successfully held a meeting this year.  All other TACs have cancelled or postponed meetings for the first quarter.

Illustrating the Justice Department's redoubled commitment to False Claims Act prosecutions, prosecutors announced a settlement of $8.1 million with a California flooring importer for evasion of import duties.

President Trump announced Wednesday that the United States will impose a 25% tariff on imported automobiles and automobile parts, including engines, transmissions, and electrical components, beginning April 3, 2025. The decision follows a renewed determination that such imports threaten national security by undermining the domestic automotive industrial base.

President Trump signed an executive order March 25 authorizing a 25 percent tariff on imports from countries that continue to import Venezuelan oil, either directly or indirectly. The proposed levies would increase the cost of goods imported from China to nearly 50 percent.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced a final rule March 25th,  amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding 80 foreign entities to the Entity List. Sales to listed entities are presumed denied and require an export license. The new restrictions, while not altering the legal framework of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), appear to chart a trajectory toward broader control measures.

During the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) hearings on March 24 and 25, 2025, industry stakeholders expressed significant concerns regarding the proposed port fees on Chinese-built and Chinese-operated vessels. The administration’s intent is to counter China’s dominance in shipbuilding and bolster the U.S. maritime sector. However, testimonies highlighted potential adverse effects on various U.S. industries. 

A group of WTO members, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and Japan, expressed support for Ukraine, urging the Russian Federation to end military operations and withdraw from Ukrainian territory. The European Union provided an update on its Deforestation and Degradation Regulation (EUDR), which has been postponed until the end of 2025. The WTO Agriculture Committee in Special Session will hold a meeting on 1 April to confirm the appointment of Ambassador H.E. Mr. Ali Sarfraz Hussain of Pakistan as Chair of the agriculture negotiations.

The Trump Administration exacted retribution on former Argentine President Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner and her former Planning Minister Julio Miguel De Vido, "for their involvement in significant corruption during their time in public office." The two have been banned from travel to the United States.  "These designations reaffirm our commitment to counter global corruption, including at the highest levels of government," said Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The U.S. Department of Justice has terminated early two corporate monitorships imposed on Glencore plc as part of the mining giant’s 2022 settlement over foreign bribery and market manipulation, following an executive directive by President Donald J. Trump halting enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The United States has advised the World Trade Organization that it is ready to enter into consultations with China and Canada over their challenges to tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration. Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is expected to visit Brussels to hold consultations on a range of issues, in the face of growing uncertainty arising from unilateral tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration. And Pakistan’s trade envoy to the World Trade Organization, Ambassador Ali Sarfraz Hussain, is being nominated as the chair of the Doha agriculture negotiating body, commonly referred to as the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session.

Outgoing chair of the World Trade Organization’s Council for Trade in Services Ambassador Syahril Syazli Ghazali of Malaysia is urging WTO members to intensify engagement on outstanding issues. Such issues include the mandated services waiver for least-developed countries while exploring flexibilities to achieve potential deliverables for next year’s 14th Ministerial Conference in Younde, Cameroon, said people familiar with the developments.

President Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing a sweeping federal effort to expand domestic production of critical minerals, citing national security and economic independence as primary justifications. The measure invokes the Defense Production Act and targets key resources such as uranium, copper, potash, gold, and aluminum, with provisions that may extend to coal.

President Donald Trump has announced that broad reciprocal tariffs and sector-specific tariffs scheduled to take effect on April 2, will have "flexibility," as the drumbeat for exceptions and special treatment builds. “I don’t change. But the word flexibility is an important word,” he said. “Sometimes it’s flexibility. So there’ll be flexibility, but basically it’s reciprocal.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU (AmCham EU) have released The Transatlantic Economy 2025 , the 22nd edition of their annual report detailing the strength …