Insights: Policy

Reciprocal Trade Negotiations and Sectoral Tariffs

The U.S. and EU this morning made a joint statement on the terms of the trade deal they had preliminarily reached in July. U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Greer said earlier this month that his emphasis is on finalizing terms of various preliminary deals rather than striking new deals, though they were welcomed. Treasury Secretary Bessent that...

Drug Pricing/Most-Favored Nation (MFN)

Drugmaker Eli Lilly has indicated it will attempt to increase the price of its medicines in Europe and other developed nations to effectuate price reductions in the U.S.

End-of-Year Healthcare Legislation (ACA, MA, Site Neutral, PBMs, Extenders)

Leadership of Paragon Health Institute (an influential conservative healthcare think-tank founded by former Trump administration officials) recently met with the Republican Study Committee (a large conservative caucus in the House, whose members are generally aligned with Paragon) to explore a possible scaled-back extension of the ACA enhanced...

Financials, Housing

President Trump, Treasury Secretary Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Lutnick recently met with bank CEOs to discuss an IPO of the GSEs later this year, and over the weekend, Trump sent a post implying that he is targeting November as a date for the transaction. This definitive preparatory step and specific timing reference is notably incremental...

Union Pacific/Norfolk Southern: Policy Considerations

We are beginning to see a partisan split in Congress regarding the proposed Union Pacific/Norfolk Southern merger, with numerous Republicans in Congress expressing support for it and Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Schumer (D-NY), expressing reservations. Notably, some Republicans are also expressing concern about the merger, which is...

Russian Oil Tariffs/Sanctions

President Trump imposed a 50% tariff on India related to its purchases of Russian energy products. He has said in recent weeks that he would use tariffs and sanctions to coerce Russia to negotiate an end to its war against Ukraine. Unnamed White House officials have reportedly signaled that tariffs on other countries are expected to be imposed...