Happy Wednesday 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–Trump, Japan strike deal to slash tariffs on US farm goods, boost digital trade: President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Wednesday that the nations had reached agreements on agricultural and digital trade provisions of a broader deal between the U.S. and Japan.
The agreement, finalized and touted by Trump and Abe at the United Nations summit, would eliminate or reduce tariffs on $7.2 billion in U.S. agricultural goods imported by Japan.
{mosads}The deal would also reduce import taxes and other trade barriers for digital products — such as software, digital media, computer source code and data — exchanged between the U.S. and Japan. I break down the agreement and what remains to be hammered out here.
Japan to ease market access for US farmers: A major part of Wednesday’s agreement is a significant expansion of access to the Japanese market for U.S. farmers and ranchers. Under the deal, Japan agreed to lift or reduce tariffs on $7.2 billion of the $8.9 billion in U.S. agricultural exports subject to Japanese tariffs.
Japan is set to reduce tariffs on $2.9 billion in U.S. beef and pork and eliminate tariffs on more than $4.3 billion in U.S. nuts, berries, grains, wine, cheese and other animal products. Japan will also agree to import annual quotas of wheat and wheat products, malt, glucose, fructose, corn starch and potato starch.
Auto tariffs still loom: The agreement reached by Trump and Abe on Wednesday does not cover a slew of other contentious trade issues, including Trump’s threatened foreign auto tariffs, weighing on the two nations’ trade relationship.
- U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Wednesday that while autos are “not part of this agreement,” he suggested that issue could be tackled among others in a “second phase” of talks toward a comprehensive deal.
- Lighthizer added that “it is certainly not our intention, the president’s intention,” to levy tariffs on Japanese autos.
ON TAP TOMORROW
- The Bureau of Economic Analysis releases its third and final estimate of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter of 2019.
- The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing entitled “Examining Legislation to Protect Consumers and Small Business Owners from Abusive Debt Collection Practices,” 10 a.m.
- The House Financial Services Committee’s fintech task force holds a hearing entitled “The Future of Real-Time Payments,” 2 p.m.
LEADING THE DAY
Judge issues one-day pause of NY prosecutors’ subpoena for Trump’s tax returns: A federal judge on Wednesday issued a one-day stay of New York prosecutors’ subpoena to President Trump’s accounting firm for the president’s personal and business tax returns.
Judge Victor Marrero, an appointee of former President Clinton, issued an order blocking enforcement and compliance of the subpoena until Thursday at 5 p.m.
He ordered lawyers for Trump and the Manhattan district attorney’s office to send the court a letter by 4 p.m. Thursday about whether they’ve agreed on how to proceed after the stay expires and before he rules in the dispute.
The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda explains what this means in the quest for Trump’s tax returns.
Key GOP senator set to meet with Trump amid spending stalemate: Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) is set to meet with President Trump on Thursday amid a stalemate on how to fund the government past late November.
Shelby told reporters he is heading to the White House Thursday afternoon to try to end the impasse over how to move fiscal 2020 bills.
“We’ll talk about [appropriations]. Where we are, how can we move, what’s it going to take,” Shelby said. “I’m just going to discuss … the merits of moving all our bills.”
Asked what his top priorities were, Shelby added that it was “how do we get off the dime. How do we get our job done and fund the government.”
The context: The Senate is expected to vote on a stopgap bill as soon as Thursday that will fund the government through Nov. 21. But the chamber has yet to pass any of the 12 bills that are needed to fund the government after the stopgap runs out and through Sep. 30, 2020.
The Hill’s Jordain Carney has more here.
House passes bill to protect cannabis industry access to banks, credit unions: The House passed a bill Wednesday to give banks and credit unions legal cover to serve the cannabis industry even while the drug remains federally banned.
The bill, dubbed the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, easily passed the House by a vote of 321 to 103, with 229 Democrats, 91 Republicans and Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.) supporting the measure. Just one of the 103 votes against the measure came from a Democrat.
While the bill faces an uncertain future in a Republican-held Senate that is skeptical of easing drug laws, the House’s approval marks a major step toward settling the vast differences between federal and state cannabis regulation. I break it down here.
- What the bill doesn’t do: End the federal ban on cannabis. Even though cannabis is illegal under federal law, 33 states have legalized medical or recreational use of the drug. Another 14 allow residents to use non-intoxicating cannabidiol (CBD) products, leaving just three states without any legally approved cannabis use.
- What it does: The bill gives legal cover to banks, credit unions and other businesses to serve state-legal dispensaries and cultivators. Banks and credit unions have largely avoided serving cannabis firms to avoid violating federal anti-money laundering and illicit finance laws. Such infractions could cost a bank or credit union millions of dollars in fines or legal fees, and even their federal charter to operate nationwide.
- Who supported it: About 75 percent of the House, including lefties and staunch Trump allies. The endorsement of major financial sector lobbying groups, including the American Bankers Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America, and the Credit Union National Association, helped secure broad support for the bill.
- What comes next: It goes to the Senate, where the GOP majority has been skeptical about passing a bill like this. But Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said the Senate should act on this somehow, so stay tuned.
GOOD TO KNOW
- The Senate again voted on Wednesday to end President Trump’s emergency declaration on the U.S.-Mexico border wall, paving the way for a veto showdown with the White House.
- President Trump on Wednesday raised hopes of striking a trade deal with China, telling reporters, “It could happen sooner than you think.”
- Tech companies, drivers and regulators are scrambling to comply with a new law in California that will require “gig economy” companies to offer their workers a full range of employee benefits.
ODDS AND ENDS
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Wednesday sued online-dating service Match Group, alleging the owner of Match.com and other top dating apps used deceptive advertisements to trick hundreds of thousands of consumers into buying Match.com subscriptions.
- A group of Google contract workers voted to unionize on Tuesday, showcasing the growing tensions between tech workers and Silicon Valley giants.