Economy on CrossGov.com

Section 301 Forced Labour Tariffs on 60 Economies Face a Court of International Trade Test After the IEEPA Ruling

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On 30 September a three-judge panel of the Court of International Trade in New York heard the first major challenge to the tariffs that replaced the emergency tariffs struck down in February. The case, brought by importers including a spice company, Burlap & Barrel, and a watchmaker, Collective Horology, argues that the US Trade Representative stretched Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 beyond what Congress allowed.

The judges pressed the government on why USTR hadn’t considered the different development levels of the 60 economies covered. On 2 October the court ordered both sides to file more briefs answering its questions.

The $100,000 H-1B Fee Is Blocked by Two Courts as Legal Immigration Shrinks: Refugee Cap 17,500, Travel Ban on 39 Countries

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

As of early October 2026, employers filing new H-1B visa petitions don’t have to pay the $100,000 fee the President imposed in September 2025. Two federal judges have blocked it.

On 8 June 2026 Judge Leo Sorokin in Massachusetts vacated the fee in a case brought by 20 states, ruling that it is effectively a tax only Congress can levy, and arbitrary. The First Circuit refused to lift his ruling in July. Around 30 September, Judge Haywood Gilliam in California blocked USCIS and the State Department from enforcing it in a separate suit by unions, employers and nonprofits. A Washington district court had upheld the fee in December 2025 in a case brought by the US Chamber of Commerce, which is appealing. The administration has extended the fee to September 2027 and in August proposed making it permanent, at about $103,000.

US Economy in 2026: The Warsh Fed Raises Rates to 4% as Inflation Hits 3.4% and Job Growth Stalls at 29,000

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On 16 September 2026 the Federal Reserve raised its policy rate by a quarter point, to 3.75–4.00%. It was the first increase since July 2023, and the vote was 12 to 0. The Fed’s statement said inflation remained elevated. Its median projection pointed to one more hike before the end of the year.

Two weeks later, the September jobs report showed employers added just 29,000 jobs. July was revised to a loss of 10,000. Unemployment was 4.2%.

Medicare's First Negotiated Part B Drug Prices Are Due November 30 as the MFN Pricing Model Shrinks From $11.9 Billion to $440 Million in Savings

Sun, 04 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

By 30 November the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must publish the negotiated prices for the third group of drugs under the Medicare drug price negotiation programme. For the first time the list includes drugs given in doctors’ offices, covered by Medicare Part B: Botox, Entyvio, Orencia, Xolair and Cimzia among them. The 15 drugs cost Medicare $27 billion over twelve months to October 2025. The new prices take effect in 2028.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac IPO Stalls as Treasury's $234 Billion Claim Grows and Shares Fall More Than Half

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two companies that guarantee about half of US mortgages, remain in government conservatorship 18 years after the 2008 crisis. A public offering the administration floated in 2025, at a combined valuation of $500 billion or more, hasn’t happened. No banks have been mandated and no timetable announced.

The shares, which trade over the counter, fell more than 23% and 25% in September. They’re down more than half this year.

FDA Becomes a Tool of Industrial Policy: Priority Vouchers, PreCheck and the 100% Pharma Tariff That Most Big Drugmakers Avoid

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On 1 April 2026 the FDA approved Eli Lilly’s Foundayo, an obesity pill, 50 days after the company filed. Standard reviews take about ten months. The speed came from a Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher, a programme launched in June 2025 that promises reviews in one to two months for drugs the agency judges to serve national priorities. Two of the first nine vouchers went to products made in the US.

CBO Projects US Debt at 120% of GDP by 2036 and 175% by 2056 as Interest Costs Overtake Defence

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Between October 2025 and May 2026, the federal government spent $722.7 billion on net interest and $630.9 billion on national defence, according to Treasury’s monthly statements. Interest beat defence by $92 billion in eight months. In fiscal 2025 the two were close: $970 billion on interest, $917 billion on defence.

That crossover is the most concrete sign of what the Congressional Budget Office’s projections have been saying for years. The debt is now large enough that paying for it competes with everything else the government does.