U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday raised tariffs on Canadian imports to 35%, effective August 1, complaining that Ottawa had retaliated with duties against Washington.

“Instead of working with the United States, Canada retaliated with its own Tariffs,” Trump said to Mark Carney, prime minister of Canada, in a letter posted on Truth Social.

Responding to Trump’s announcement, Carney said in a post on X that “Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America. We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries.”

“The Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1.”

The 35% tariffs will be separate from all sectoral tariffs, Trump said, warning that the duty might be increased, if Canada retaliated. Canada is subject to Trump’s 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, 25% tariffs on autos, and faces a 50% levy on copper shipments starting August 1.

Other imports from Canada into the U.S. currently attract a 25% levy that Trump imposed earlier this year over the country’s alleged role in the flow of fentanyl, with exemptions for those in compliance with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Energy imports from Canada are subject to a lower 10% levy.

“If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 35% that we charge,” Trump said Thursday. “Goods transshipped to evade this higher tariff will be subject to that higher tariff.”

Trump indicated that the tariff rates in future will depend on how Washington’s relationship with Ottawa pans out, while mentioning that his country faced challenges from Canada that went beyond fentanyl.

″[Canada] has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, which cause unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States … The Trade Deficit is a major threat to our Economy and, indeed, our National Security!”

On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission sent warning letters to four companies who claim their consumer goods are of U.S. origin, reminding them to comply with the FTC’s “Made in USA” requirements. Additionally, the FTC sent letters to Amazon and Walmart regarding third-party sellers who appear to be making deceptive “Made in USA” claims about their products on those online marketplaces.

The warning letters explain that the FTC Act and the Made in USA Labeling Rule require that products advertised as “Made in the USA” must be “all or virtually all” made in the United States. The FTC warned these companies to discontinue such claims or provide substantiation that the products at issue are in fact “all or virtually all” made in the United States. Companies that violate the FTC Act and the MUSA Labeling Rule may be subject to legal action including the issuance of an administrative subpoena, the filing of a federal lawsuit, injunctive relief, and civil penalties or other monetary relief.

Throughout July, the FTC is highlighting the importance of the FTC’s “Made in USA” requirements to ensure that Americans can trust that products advertised or labeled as “Made in USA” are actually American-made. The FTC offers additional guidance on how to comply with the Made in USA Rule.

Yesterday, a split state Supreme Court overturned the Legislature’s power to suspend administrative rules, ending decades of lawmakers having the power to at least temporarily block agency regulations.

In a 4-3 decision, the court found the statutes giving those powers to the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules violate the Wisconsin Constitution’s requirement of bicameralism and presentment, which mandates any law to pass both houses of the Legislature and be presented to the governor.

The ruling stems from a challenge Dem Gov. Tony Evers filed to two actions by JCRAR: indefinitely blocking commercial building code rules administered by the Department of Safety and Professional Services and suspending for more than three years the rule the Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling, and Social Work Examining Board issued that served as a de facto ban on conversion therapy.

The rulemaking process includes multiple steps, from the Governor proposing a framework for the regulation to submitting it to the Legislature for review and then publication. Prior to the court’s ruling, JCRAR had several options to halt rules from taking effect.

It could meet and take executive action to introduce legislation in each house of the Legislature to support the objection. If the bill becomes law, the agency can’t promulgate the rule unless a later law expressly authorizes it to do so. That option remains even after the court’s decision.

The ruling overturned the committee’s option to indefinitely object to a rule. Under that process, the rule was barred from moving forward unless specifically authorized by the Legislature.

The U.S. plans to charge up to 70% tariffs on imports from some countries starting August 1 as President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on his country-specific reciprocal duties nears its expiration date.

Starting Monday at noon EST, the U.S. will send letters detailing tariff rates for specific trading partners that have yet to reach a tariff deal with the Trump administration before the pause ends July 9, the President said Sunday. Trump told reporters Friday that the rates would range between 10% and 70%.

The U.S. is specifically focused on “18 important trading relationships,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. He also indicated that countries that do not reach deals in the next few days will return to the tariff rate Trump first outlined as part of the president’s global reciprocal tariff announcement April 2.

“President Trump’s going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners, saying that, if you don’t move things along, then, on August 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level,” Bessent said.

It remains unclear if countries will be able to negotiate with the Trump administration after this week’s deadline, but Bessent said the Aug. 1 implementation date does not mean the 90-day tariff pause has been extended.

“It’s not a new deadline. We are saying this is when it’s happening,” Bessent said. “If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice.”

Since the reciprocal tariff announcement in early April, the U.S. has come to terms on deals with three countries, according to Trump. Most recently, Trump said his administration reached a deal with Vietnam wherein imports from the country would be charged a 20% tariff upon entering the U.S.

The U.S. has also formulated a framework for a deal with China and signed a pact the U.K.

Wisconsin lawmakers voted to approve a state budget late Wednesday night that spends more than $111 billion over the next two years, cuts more than 300 state positions and increases funding for the child care industry and the Universities of Wisconsin system. It also cuts taxes by about $1.4 billion.

Governor Evers signed the bill, wielding his powerful partial veto pen on several dozen items but maintaining the core of a bipartisan deal announced earlier this week.

The bipartisan deal included what Governor Evers described as the largest increase to the state’s special education reimbursement rate in history and the largest funding increase to the Universities of Wisconsin in two decades.

The bill also cuts taxes by restructuring the second tax bracket, eliminating the sales tax on household utility bills and exempting some retirement income tax for seniors.

Republicans celebrated an overall reduction in state jobs by 303 positions, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. In his initial proposal, Evers’ budget would have added about 881 jobs to the state rolls.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it will review whether Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s lawsuit seeking to shut down a section of an aging pipeline beneath a Great Lakes channel belongs in state court.

Nessel sued in state court in June 2019 seeking to void the easement that allows the Enbridge energy company to operate a 4.5-mile (6.4-kilometer) section of pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac, which link Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

She won a restraining order shutting down the pipeline from Ingham County Judge James Jamo in June 2020, although Enbridge was allowed to continue operations after meeting safety requirements.

The company moved the lawsuit into federal court in 2021, arguing it affects U.S. and Canadian trade. But a three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to Jamo in June 2024, finding that Enbridge missed a 30-day deadline to change jurisdictions.

Enbridge officials said in a statement that they were encouraged by the Supreme Court’s choice, noting that exceptions to the 30-day deadline exist.

A tentative bipartisan deal between Gov. Tony Evers and Republican leaders in the state Legislature calls for billions in new spending on public schools, child care and state universities, along with income tax cuts worth more than $1 billion.

In a statement, Evers said it’s contingent on his approval of any final changes to the two-year budget bill from the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Assembly and Senate. Still, the deal with Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Ooostburg, and Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, is notable.

The text of the agreement has yet to be released, but Evers’ statement said it includes the largest increase to the state’s special education reimbursement rate in history, the largest increase to the Universities of Wisconsin in two decades and more than $330 million to support child care centers.

Under the deal, Evers’ office said income taxes for individuals will decrease by $600 million in each of the next two years, with 82 percent of the tax cut going toward people with adjusted annual gross incomes below $200,000.

Retirees age 67 and up would also be able to exclude up to $24,000 in retirement income from state income taxes.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is renewing its National Emphasis Program on Amputations in Manufacturing Industries focused on preventing amputations in manufacturing workplaces.

Under the renewed program – which aims to find and reduce dangers that could lead to amputations and other injuries in the manufacturing sector – OSHA will conduct inspections of manufacturing facilities to ensure compliance with safety practices while operating, servicing, or maintaining machines. This includes controlling dangerous energy sources and making sure machines are properly guarded to prevent amputations. The program looks at companies using machinery that pose a risk of amputation.

Significant changes in the updated emphasis program include:

• An updated list of North American Industry Code System establishment codes identified for inclusion in the program.
• Allowing establishments that had an inspection under the NEP in the previous 24 months and did not report an amputation to be deleted from the programmed inspection list.
• Revisions to the OSHA Information Systems coding instructions.

The updated program will replace the previous version that is set to end on June 27, 2025, and will be in place for five years from the effective date.

We Energies will keep two aging coal-fired units running at its Oak Creek Power Plant for one year longer than planned, the company announced Wednesday.

The units, built in the 1960s, will now be used to meet high electricity demand periods through the end of 2026. Utility officials have said they plan to convert the nearby Elm Road Generating Station, which came online in the early 2010s, from a coal plant to a natural gas plant.

We Energies says the decision to delay the aging plant’s retirement comes in response to tightened energy supply requirements and in an effort to boost reliability.

In a statement, We Energies President Mike Hooper said the company will continue evaluating the future of the Oak Creek plant based on capacity needs, financial impact and available energy generation resources.

“This decision will help us keep the lights on every day and every season,” Hooper said. “Just this month, national grid experts raised the alarm of elevated risks of power supply shortages and price spikes due to plant closures and increasing energy demand in the Upper Midwest.”

In May, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin gave We Energies the green light to move forward with building two new natural gas power plants, one in Oak Creek and another in Kenosha County. Those projects have a price tag of more than $1.5 billion

The Department of Public Instruction will not receive $50 million to implement a reading bill passed in 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously ruled Wednesday.

The court found the Joint Finance Committee is not improperly withholding funds from DPI. The court also reversed a lower court’s finding that Governor Evers was acting within his constitutional authority when he used his partial veto authority last year on the reading bill.

In a unanimous opinion Wednesday written by conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley, the Supreme Court ruled against Evers.

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday the funding bill was not an appropriations bill, therefore the Evers’ partial veto was unconstitutional.

“Although the executive branch may be frustrated by constitutional limits on the governor’s power to veto non-appropriation bills, the judiciary must respect the People’s choice to impose them,” Bradley wrote.