Trump’s new trade deal with Canada and Mexico is winning early…

The US, Canada, and Mexico agreed on Sunday to update the North American Free Trade Agreement, rebranding the deal as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. The deal would make edits to NAFTA's auto, labor, and dispute-resolution rules and open up access to various protected industries like dairy and wine.

Blockchain Applications for Enterprise and Payments Evolve, New…

The World Food Programme and UN Women announced last week that they are collaborating in an initiative to use blockchain to aid Syrian refugee women participating in the UN Women's cash-for-work program. Building off WFP's existing Building Blocks project, which utilizes a blockchain-based system to provide cash transfers to more than 106,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan, the new system will allow refugee women to request cash back, or pay for purchases directly, at WFP-contracted supermarkets by undergoing an iris scan that links their identity to their blockchain account.

House Votes Today on ‘Tax Reform 2.0,’ But Senate Action Unlikely Before Elections

The House today is likely to approve legislation to make permanent the individual and small-business tax cuts that Congress enacted in 2017, but the Senate won't consider the measure before the November midterm elections. Today's vote is part of a three-bill package of tax relief dubbed "Tax Reform 2.0." The House on Thursday approved legislation by Rep. Mike Kelly , R-Pa., that would expand retirement savings incentives and legislation by Rep. Vern Buchanan , R-Fla., to expand tax breaks for startups.

Trump accuses China of trying to sway U.S. midterms with retaliatory tariffs

Trump accuses China of trying to sway U.S. midterms with retaliatory tariffs President Donald Trump says Chinese tariffs - a response to U.S. tariffs - target products in politically important states. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: https://usat.ly/2xniGBc WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump accused China on Tuesday of seeking to interfere in the U.S. congressional elections by slapping tariffs on products from politically pivotal states, even though it was the president who instigated the latest fight by imposing $200 billion in new tariffs on Beijing.

Debate on new tax cuts undercut by GOP election pressure Source: AP

House lawmakers on Thursday debated a Republican proposal to expand the new tax law by making permanent the individual tax cuts now set to expire in 2026. But the move is undercut by election pressures faced by GOP lawmakers from high-tax states where residents are hurt by the law's limits on state and local tax deductions.

US and Mexico tentatively set to replace NAFTA with new deal

Snubbing Canada, the Trump administration reached a preliminary deal Monday with Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement - a move that raised legal questions and threatened to disrupt the operations of companies that do business across the three-country trade bloc. President Donald Trump suggested that he might leave Canada, America's No.

Tax Foundation report: Simpler tax code means billions of dollars saved in time

The GOP's tax cuts could save Americans billions of dollars by reducing the number of hours they spend calculating and filing their returns, according to a report released Tuesday. Millions of people will see less paperwork, amounting to as much as $5.4 billion in time-cost savings nationwide, the Tax Foundation estimated.

It’s a horrible idea to reduce the capital gains tax without a vote in Congress

There's a segment in the legendary 1990s tv show Animaniacs called "Good Idea, Bad Idea" where the character Mr. Skullhead demonstrates ideas both good and bad. The presentations are quite logical - why would someone even attempt to drink milk straight from the cow? - and narrated by the illustrious Tom Bodett of Motel 6 fame.

House Republicans seek more tax cuts as elections near

House Republicans have launched an effort to expand the massive tax law they muscled through Congress last year, aiming to make permanent the individual tax cuts and small-business income deductions now set to expire in 2026. The pre-midterm elections push, which clicked into gear Tuesday, is portrayed as championing the middle class and small businesses.

Trump, House Republicans to talk tax cuts at White House

At a White House meeting scheduled for 2 p.m., the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, Kevin Brady, may also get a chance to urge Trump to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the escalating Sino-American trade dispute. It was unclear if Republicans would press Trump over his summit meeting on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki that has generated fierce criticism from many U.S. lawmakers including within Trump's party.

Trump Must Meet Xi to Stop Trade War, Top House Republican Says

President Donald Trump faced unusually blunt criticism from within his own party, as one of the U.S. House's top lawmakers urged him to restart negotiations to stop a costly trade war with China. Representative Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican who heads the powerful Ways and Means Committee, called on Trump to meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and hash out an agreement to settle their trade differences.

House GOP postpones key immigration vote amid party infighting

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan , Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Republican Kevin Brady and House Majority Leader Republican Kevin McCarthy enter a news conference with House Republican leadership on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on June 20, 2018. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan , Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Republican Kevin Brady and House Majority Leader Republican Kevin McCarthy enter a news conference with House Republican leadership on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on June 20, 2018.

House GOP immigration compromise teeters ahead of votes

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., joined by House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., left, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, talks following a closed-door conference with fellow Republicans at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 20, 2018. A sweeping House GOP immigration overhaul teetered on the brink of collapse Thursday as lawmakers struggled to move past an issue that has become politically fraught amid the dire images of families being separated at the border.

A struggle for next steps on immigration

From left, Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., Trump, and Re... . Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., joined by House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., left, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, talks following a closed-door conference with fellow Rep... .

Trump Signals He Wants Separate Trade Deals With Canada and Mexico

The Trump administration added another complication to already fractious talks with Canada and Mexico on Tuesday, suggesting that President Trump now wants to negotiate separate bilateral deals with those nations rather than continue three-country discussions to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement. "His preference now, and he asked me to convey this, is to actually negotiate with Mexico and Canada separately," Larry Kudlow, the White House chief economic adviser, said of the president on Fox & Friends Tuesday morning.