The briefing for Wednesday, June 3.

The Trump administration announced Tuesday it is proposing tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on products from 60 countries following an investigation into imports of goods allegedly made with forced labor. According to the U.S. Trade Representative, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom would face 10% additional tariffs, while China, Japan, India, South Korea, Brazil, and Switzerland would face 12.5% levies for allegedly failing to enforce forced labor import bans.

USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer said the failure of major trading partners to address forced labor imports creates an unlevel playing field for American workers. The investigation was conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a strategy that allows Trump to bypass Supreme Court limits on his tariff authority. The Supreme Court ruled in February that Trump had overstepped by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose earlier sweeping tariffs.

The new tariffs would not take effect immediately and are subject to public comment and review, with public hearings scheduled to begin July 7. The proposal comes just two weeks after the European Union approved a deal capping tariffs on most EU exports at 15%, and follows Trump's recent visit to China where he and President Xi Jinping discussed expanding market access. The USTR report cited products including rice from Myanmar, tobacco from Malawi, beef from Brazil, and cotton from China as being prone to forced labor, referencing UN estimates that 27.6 million people globally were engaged in forced labor as of 2021.

President Trump appointed Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence on Tuesday, selecting a housing official with no known intelligence background to temporarily oversee the nation's 18 intelligence agencies. Pulte, a private equity financier from a prominent homebuilding dynasty, will replace outgoing Director Tulsi Gabbard when she departs June 30 while maintaining his current role at the FHFA.

The appointment immediately drew bipartisan criticism over Pulte's use of his housing position to pursue Trump's political adversaries. Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the choice demonstrates Trump expects political loyalty rather than independent judgment from intelligence officials. Pulte has made criminal referrals against Senator Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Federal Reserve officials, though none have led to successful prosecutions. The Government Accountability Office is now investigating how the FHFA conducts mortgage fraud investigations.

Even some Republicans expressed skepticism about the selection. Texas Senator John Cornyn said he saw no evidence of Pulte's qualifications for the role but was willing to listen. Under federal law, acting officials may serve only 210 days before requiring Senate confirmation, meaning Pulte's posting would expire in late January 2027 unless he is confirmed.

Kuwait temporarily closed its main international airport Wednesday after Iranian drones heavily damaged a passenger terminal building, killing one person and wounding 63 others in the latest exchange of strikes between Tehran and Washington. Defense Ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi said multiple hostile drones targeted Kuwait International Airport, which had only reopened Monday after closing in February due to the Iran war.

The attack followed U.S. missile strikes on an Iranian military facility Tuesday, which the U.S. said were in retaliation for Iranian missiles fired at Kuwait and Bahrain. According to U.S. Central Command, Iran fired two missiles at Kuwait that fell apart en route and launched missiles at Bahrain that were intercepted by U.S. and Bahraini forces. Iran's Revolutionary Guard acknowledged targeting the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and U.S. facilities in another country, without naming Kuwait.

Semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported that Iran had stopped communicating with ceasefire mediators as tensions flared over Israeli operations in Lebanon. A regional official involved in mediation said Iran had not communicated Tuesday after demanding that a separate ceasefire in Lebanon be enforced before returning to talks. However, President Trump disputed reports of halted negotiations, saying on social media that conversations were continuing and telling Iran it was time to make a deal. Kuwait's Foreign Ministry said the country reserves the right to respond and will neither accept nor tolerate the attacks.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress Tuesday that the Trump administration is completely abandoning plans for an $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate the president's allies, declaring "we are not moving forward with the fund, period." The announcement at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing marked an extraordinary reversal for a Justice Department initiative that had sparked widespread political backlash just two weeks after its creation.

The fund was established as part of a settlement resolving Trump's lawsuit against the IRS over leaked tax returns, but quickly faced mounting pressure from Republicans who demanded the plans be scrapped before moving forward with legislation funding immigration enforcement agencies. The proposal provoked outrage over the possibility that violent January 6 Capitol rioters could be eligible for payouts. Senate Republicans had revolted against the fund before Memorial Day recess, refusing to pass a Homeland Security spending bill until the White House addressed their concerns.

The administration's retreat follows setbacks in federal courts, including a Virginia judge's temporary order blocking the fund and a Florida judge raising concerns about "grievous allegations" of improper dealing. Blanche said the Justice Department is not abandoning an element of the settlement giving Trump and his family immunity from tax audits. The collapse of the fund removes a major obstacle to passing immigration enforcement legislation that Republicans need to fund ICE and Border Patrol operations.

The Trump administration announced Monday it is proposing 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, the world's 10th-largest economy, citing unreasonable trade practices that burden U.S. commerce. The U.S. Trade Representative's investigation charged Brazil with lax anti-corruption enforcement and unfair tariffs, among other issues. USTR Jamieson Greer said he and Trump had constructive meetings with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva but substantial differences remain unresolved.

President Lula responded with indignation on Tuesday, blaming the tariff proposal on Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who visited Washington last week. Lula suggested U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom he called anti-Latin American and a deadly enemy of Cuba and other Latin American countries, was obstructing his relationship with Trump. Brazil's government said the dialogue between the presidents was being sabotaged by electoral and family matters involving the Bolsonaros.

The proposal excludes more than half of U.S. imports from Brazil, including aircraft and key minerals, according to trade lawyer Ryan Majerus. The administration is using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 for the investigation, a legal strategy that survived Supreme Court scrutiny unlike Trump's earlier tariffs imposed under different authority. A public hearing on the proposed tariffs is scheduled for July 6. Last year, Trump had imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil mainly to protest its prosecution of Bolsonaro for attempting to overturn his 2022 electoral defeat.

Canada formally requested Tuesday that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement be renewed for another 16 years, calling the free trade pact highly beneficial to all three countries as the July deadline for review approaches. Canada-US trade minister Dominic LeBlanc sent the notice to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Mexico's Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, with Mexico also indicating support for the 16-year extension.

The formal request comes as LeBlanc met with Greer in Washington, while negotiations with Canada have lagged behind talks with Mexico. Prime Minister Mark Carney wants sector-specific tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, automobiles, and lumber removed or lowered, while Greer has indicated Canada may need to accept some form of U.S. tariffs. The U.S. has cited trade irritants including provincial removal of American alcohol from shelves and is seeking greater access to Canadian dairy markets and increased U.S. content in North American-made vehicles.

Greer blamed slower progress with Canada on its retaliatory tariffs, noting only two countries retaliated against U.S. tariffs: China and Canada. Domestic pressure is building on Carney to reach a deal, with Conservative opposition citing Canada's lagging economic growth and high youth unemployment. Trump revived his "51st state" rhetoric Monday, posting the phrase on social media linked to news of Canada's economic weakness. If the three countries don't agree to extend the USMCA by July 1, the pact would require annual renewal until 2036.