Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, VITAL BRIEFING—Trump slows tariff actions as economy absorbs disruptions, (Jan 9, 2026)
The Congressional Budget Office reported that it was reducing its forecast for the contribution of tariffs to deficit reduction over the period 2025-2035 by almost 10 percent, from a $3.3 billion reduction to a $3 billion reduction.
In this installment of Tariffs Insights, Thomas Thompson reflects on the U.S. tariff roller coaster that consumed much of 2025, with its onslaught of tariff policy announcements, reversals, cancelations, court challenges, and promises of dividend checks, and how the tariff space has recently quieted down. Thompson’s observations include:
The year-end postponement of the doubling of tariffs on imported kitchen cabinets and vanities for a year by the Trump administration. The 25 percent tariffs for these goods were set to increase on January 1.
The Trump administration is walking back threats to impose anti-dumping duties of up to 92 percent on pasta produced by a large swath of Italian manufacturers. Tariffs on some firms’ imports were forecasted to top out at 107 percent when added to the 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff already in place.
Monthly tariff revenues declined by more than 10 percent during the fourth quarter of 2025 after peaking at about $34 billion in October, according to a recent article in Fortune.
The outlook for $2,000 dividend checks may be in doubt, even though President Trump declared that tariff dividends for most Americans would be forthcoming as projected tariff revenues are materially decreasing.
Thompson also considers how market players across the economy have been adept in adjusting their behavior in light of a new and everchanging tariff environment. He notes how purchasers have veered away from higher priced, higher-tariffed goods by shifting to different lower-priced goods. While on the supply side, he observes there is some evidence that exporters have lowered prices, effectively absorbing some of the tariff costs.
To read the article, click Trump slows tariff actions as economy absorbs disruptions.
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