On The Money: Senate approves $854B spending bill | China imposes new tariffs on $60 billion in US goods | Ross downplays new tariffs: ‘Nobody’s going to actually notice’

Happy Tuesday and welcome back to On The Money. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

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THE BIG DEAL–Senate approves $854B spending bill: The Senate is racing to avoid the third government shutdown of the year ahead of a looming end-of-the-month deadline.

Senators on Tuesday voted 93-7 to pass a sweeping $854 billion spending bill that includes funding for the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor and Education, which make up the lion’s share of total government spending.

{mosads}Passage of the sweeping package of defense and domestic spending marks a significant victory for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who has dedicated weeks of floor time to government funding and avoiding another catch-all omnibus bill less than two months before the midterm election, where control of Congress hangs in the balance. The Hill’s Jordain Carney and Niv Elis tell us more here about the road ahead.

Big bucks: Despite containing only two appropriations bills, the package represents roughly two-thirds of Congress’s 2019 spending.

Moving (relatively) quickly: It’s the first time the Senate has approved funding for Labor, HHS or Education outside an omnibus bill since 2007, though even then the package was not completed on time. Why? The bills normally get bogged down by fights over partisan riders, but Senate negotiators agreed early on to avoid attaching them to their legislation.

LEADING THE DAY

China imposes new tariffs on $60 billion of US goods: China’s Commerce Ministry said Tuesday that it is implementing new tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods starting Sept. 24, according to Reuters.

Trump announced Monday that the administration would impose 10 percent tariffs on more than 6,000 Chinese imports beginning on Sept. 24 and increase the tax to 25 percent at the end of the year.

The tariffs would target a broad array of imports, including fish such as salmon and halibut, vegetables, nuts, grains, orange juice, and metals including titanium and uranium.

Trump has also threatened an additional round of tariffs on $267 billion of Chinese goods if Beijing responded to the most recent U.S. round announced on Monday. Trump’s tariffs now cover the entirety of China’s exports to the U.S.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross tried to downplay the impact of the tariffs, arguing the levies represent but a “tiny, tiny fraction” of U.S. inflation.

“If you have a 10 percent tariff on another $200 billion, that’s $20 billion a year,” Ross said. “Because it’s spread over thousands and thousands of products, nobody’s going to actually notice it at the end of the day.”

While Ross sought to temper growing concerns about the economic impact of Trump’s trade policy, his argument raises questions about the effectiveness of the tariffs.

Taxes on imports are intended to push consumers toward buying goods from domestic manufacturers by raising the cost of foreign competitor products. A lack of a meaningful price difference between U.S. and foreign goods could do little to bolster American manufacturers against Chinese rivals.

Scalise tells Canada: Make a deal on trade or be left behind: House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Tuesday that Canada needs to come to a trade agreement with the U.S. or else get left out of the new trade deal with Mexico.

“Mexico negotiated in good faith and in a timely manner, and if Canada does not cooperate in the negotiations, Congress will have no choice but to consider options about how best to move forward and stand up for American workers,” Scalise said in a statement Tuesday.

“While we would all like to see Canada remain part of this three-country coalition, there is not an unlimited amount of time for it to be part of this new agreement,” Scalise explained.

The U.S. and Canada are attempting to strike a deal that would bring our northern neighbor into the North American Free Trade Agreement revamp that the Trump administration and Mexico have already agreed to sign.

The Trump administration warned Canada that it would leave Ottawa out of the deal if necessary. But the NAFTA rewrite is subject to congressional approval and lawmakers are wary of greenlighting a deal without Canada in it.

GOOD TO KNOW 

• The IRS is warning taxpayers to watch out for scams following Hurricane Florence after the storm ravaged North and South Carolina with heavy rain and intense flooding.
• Facebook had been haggling with financial firms over its access to sensitive user information for years before the social-media company came under fire for its handling of personal data, according to The Wall Street Journal.
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Tuesday voiced her support for striking McDonald’s workers who are protesting the fast food chain’s response to sexual harassment in the workplace.
• SeaWorld and its former CEO have agreed to pay more than $5 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to settle charges that it misled investors about the negative impact of the documentary “Blackfish.”
• The U.S. is attempting to avoid a brewing crisis in the global aluminum market by easing sanctions on Russian metal producer Rusal, according to Bloomberg News.
• Puerto Rico’s government is suing insurance companies for not responding quickly enough to claims filed after Hurricane Maria slammed the island last year, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
• The U.S. is slipping in its commitment to supporting international development, ranking fifth from last among wealthy nations in a new analysis from the Center for Global Development.
• Greg Ip of The Wall Street Journal argues why the 2008 financial crisis played less of role in the rise of populism than one might suspect.

ODDS AND ENDS

• Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said in an interview to be aired Wednesday that the financial regulation law bearing his name is unlikely to be loosened by Congress again.
• The European Union is planning to drop its lawsuit against Ireland over back taxes from Apple after the country announced that it had collected $16.7 billion from the company.
• Op-Ed: Ed Gerwin, senior fellow for trade and global opportunity at the Progressive Policy Institute, on why an “off-the-rails trade war shows how America loses under Trump.”