Section

Policy

Regulation, trade and the policy decisions companies must plan around.

• Policy

  USTR Formally Keeps the 2018 China Section 301 Tariffs in Force After Its Four-Year Review

  A notice filed Tuesday morning determines that neither the July 2018 nor the August 2018 action terminated on its anniversary, because domestic industries asked for them to continue.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 6, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  Trump's Diesel Tax Order Gives Treasury Until October 10 to Decide Whether It Is Authorized

  The executive order defers federal diesel excise taxes and waives penalties for highway use of dyed diesel. The statute it relies on covers disasters and military action, not price spikes.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 6, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  Supreme Court Hears Suncor's Bid to Block Boulder County's Climate-Deception Suit

  More than two dozen similar cases are paused pending the outcome. Justice Thomas pressed counsel on whether the Court should be hearing the case at all.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 6, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  India's Finance Minister Says Trade Talks With Washington Have Reached a Plateau

  Nirmala Sitharaman said moving beyond the current point would be "very, very difficult" for both sides, a week after the U.S. trade representative said no deal was imminent.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 6, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  FTC Warns 24 Large Health Care Companies That Price Disclosures May Violate the FTC Act

  The agency told the companies that complying with CMS transparency rules is not a safe harbor, and urged a comprehensive review of how they quote the cost of scheduled care.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 6, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  FinCEN's Withdrawal of Its Crypto Mixing and Self-Custody Wallet Proposals Reaches the Federal Register

  Two notices published Tuesday formally pull a 2023 proposed special measure on convertible virtual currency mixing and a proposal covering unhosted wallets.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 6, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  G7 Agrees to Release Up to 100 Million Barrels of Diesel and Crude, With Most of the Diesel Inside 20 Days

  The IEA-coordinated release, announced from the Elysee on Friday, came with a pledge by members not to impose energy export bans on one another.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 5, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  Private Tallies Put the Fiscal 2026 Deficit Near $2 Trillion While Treasury's Final Statement Is Still Pending

  The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates a $2 trillion gap, 6.2% of GDP, with interest costs of $1.1 trillion, a record 3.4% of output.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 5, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  FTC Is Reported to Be Investigating OpenAI, Anthropic and Other AI Developers Over Consumer Risks

  Civil investigative demands are said to be coming within weeks, covering rogue agents, chatbot effects on children, health data handling and AI-driven cyberattacks. The agency has not confirmed the inquiry.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 3, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  Kashkari Says Inflation Is Still Too High and Pencils In One More Rate Increase This Year

  The Minneapolis Fed president held a hawkish line even after core PCE cooled to 3.0%, as markets trimmed October hike odds to roughly 40%.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 3, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  New Mexico Asks a Judge for Up to $40 Billion From Meta Over Cambridge Analytica; Meta Wants the Figure Capped at $3.45 Billion

  A jury found Meta liable for more than 43 million violations of state consumer-protection law. Meta's counsel called the state's request an "astronomical penalty" that would violate the Constitution.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 3, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  Fed's Jefferson Says Inflation Has Been 'Too High for Too Long' but Will Not Commit to Another Increase

  The vice chair put headline PCE inflation at 3.4% in August and called 4.1% unemployment near maximum employment, as traders cut the odds of an October hike to roughly a quarter.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 3, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  Fair Isaac Falls Again on a Report That FHFA Will Cut Mortgage Credit Pulls From Three Bureaus to Two

  Bloomberg reported the change could be announced as soon as October 12, days after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac opened their pricing grid to VantageScore.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 3, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  New York Fed's Williams Sees 'No Need for Urgency' but Says One More Hike May Fit Late This Year

  Speaking in Buffalo, the FOMC vice chair called inflation at 3.7% 'unquestionably too high' while describing the labor market as solid.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 1, 2026 · 5 min read

• Policy

  FDA Warns Neogen Over Fungal Contamination Linked to Illness in Nearly 100 Horses

  The agency calls it the largest number of equine deaths ever tied to a quality defect in an FDA-regulated veterinary medical product.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 1, 2026 · 5 min read

• Policy

  Justice Department Charges Two Men in a Counterfeit Ozempic Smuggling Scheme Traced to China

  Prosecutors in the Middle District of Florida allege the defendants bought counterfeit semaglutide pens from unauthorized Chinese sources and sold them to U.S. distributors at a discount.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 1, 2026 · 5 min read

• Policy

  SEC Proposes Opening Private Markets to Retail Investors and Asks Whether Credentials Should Confer Accredited Status

  A package the Commission describes as the 'responsible retailization of private markets' would broaden performance fees, modernize interval funds and replace case-by-case closed-end fund orders.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 1, 2026 · 5 min read

• Policy

  Core PCE Slows to 3.0% on the Same Day the BEA Changed How It Prices Three Service Categories

  August inflation came in well below forecast, but the print landed alongside an annual methodology update that rewrote price measurement for portfolio management, legal services and software back to 2021.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 1, 2026 · 5 min read

• Policy

  The SEC's Examinations Division Publishes an Exam Handbook, Replacing Its Longstanding Brochure

  'The SEC Exam Handbook: A Practical Guide on Process and Engagement' walks registrants from risk assessment through disposition letters, with tips, compliance resources and feedback channels.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 1, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  SEC Proposes Rules Setting Out How Investment Advisers and Funds May Custody Crypto Assets

  The proposal would permit self-custody under specified conditions and allow state trust companies to serve as custodians, amending rules under the 1940 Advisers and Investment Company Acts.

  By Marcus Elrod · Oct 1, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  TransUnion Locks 99-Cent VantageScore 4.0 Mortgage Pricing Through 2028

  The credit bureau is fixing the price of the FICO alternative for three years after FHFA cleared VantageScore 4.0 for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lenders.

  By Marcus Elrod · Sep 29, 2026 · 7 min read

• Policy

  Amprius Wins Up to $75 Million From the Pentagon to Convert an EV Battery Line to Drone Cells

  The IBAS award funds a retrofit expected to produce 12 million NDAA-compliant cells a year by early 2028, in a project costing roughly $100 million in total.

  By Marcus Elrod · Sep 28, 2026 · 5 min read

• Policy

  FDA Approves Atebrioz for Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva, a Disease Affecting About 300 Americans

  Mirum will commercialize the Incyte-discovered drug for patients 12 and older. In the PROGRESS trial, new bone-lesion volume fell 3.2 cubic centimeters against a 24.6 increase on placebo.

  By Marcus Elrod · Sep 26, 2026 · 8 min read

• Policy

  FDA Approves Lilly's Olumiant for Adolescents 12 and Older With Severe Alopecia Areata

  In the BRAVE-AA-PEDS trial, 42% of adolescents on the 4-mg dose reached at least 80% scalp hair coverage at week 36, against 5% on placebo.

  By Marcus Elrod · Sep 26, 2026 · 5 min read

• Policy

  FDA Panel Narrowly Backs GRAIL's Galleri, the First Multi-Cancer Blood Test to Reach an Advisory Vote

  Advisers split 6-4 on whether the screening test is effective while voting 10-0 that it is safe, leaving the agency a contested record to weigh.

  By Marcus Elrod · Sep 25, 2026 · 7 min read

• Policy

  U.S.-China Tariff Truce Extended to Jan. 10, Bessent Says — but No Official U.S. Statement Exists

  The Treasury secretary announced the two-month extension in a television interview as Xi Jinping began a state visit. As of Thursday's close, no Treasury release, White House statement or executive order had followed.

  By Marcus Elrod · Sep 25, 2026 · 4 min read

• Policy

  The Last Tranche of Tariff Refunds Opens Oct. 6, and Only for Importers Who Sued

  Customs will begin processing finally liquidated entries next month, but whether non-litigants ever get paid is the question now before the Federal Circuit.

  By Marcus Elrod · Sep 25, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  A Week After Raising Rates, the Fed Says Inflation Is Not Clearly Heading Back to Target

  Governor Michael Barr pointed to shelter costs, with primary-residence rent up 34% since December 2019, as long-dated Treasury yields reached their highest levels in two decades.

  By Marcus Elrod · Sep 25, 2026 · 2 min read

• Policy

  Fed Proposes the First GENIUS Act Rules for Bank-Issued Payment Stablecoins

  Two proposals would require full reserve backing in high-quality liquid assets and create an application pathway for Board-supervised banks. Comments are due 60 days after publication.

  By Marcus Elrod · Sep 25, 2026 · 10 min read

• Policy

  FAA Convenes a Corrective Action Review Board Over a Boeing 737 MAX Flight Computer Software Flaw

  The issue can drop the vertical navigation mode during a go-around. No in-service U.S. fleet runs the affected software versions, but the review adds risk to MAX 10 certification.

  By Marcus Elrod · Sep 21, 2026 · 5 min read

• Policy

  FDA Panel to Weigh GRAIL's Galleri, the First Multi-Cancer Blood Test Up for U.S. Approval

  GRAIL shares jumped Monday ahead of Wednesday's advisory committee vote. The company's data show a test that finds cancers standard screening misses — and a randomized trial that missed its main goal.

  By Marcus Elrod · Sep 21, 2026 · 3 min read