U.S. opens drug-pricing investigation into Germany.
Today's events
Germany drug-pricing probe.
U.S. Trade Representative Greer opened a Section 301 trade investigation into whether Germany’s persistent underpayment for innovative drugs unfairly burdens American commerce, as Berlin fast-tracks legislation to cut drug spending.1Jun 19 · USTRBayer seed concession.
Under an ongoing Antitrust Division investigation into corn and soybean seed markets, Bayer CropScience agreed to drop loyalty-program provisions the Justice Department called anticompetitive — and not to reinstate them for seven years.2Jun 20 · DOJCross-border power.
The Energy Department finalized a rule simplifying the approval process for U.S. companies to export electricity to foreign countries, stripping out application requirements it deemed unnecessary under the Federal Power Act.3Jun 20 · DOEChina refrigerant duties.
Commerce stripped Chinese refrigerant maker Sanmei and 23 other firms of separate antidumping rates, folding them into the China-wide entity — a finding that subjects their R-134a exports to the highest duty rate.4Jun 20 · CommerceCancer-drug withdrawal.
The FDA withdrew approval of Epizyme’s lymphoma and sarcoma drug tazemetostat after a confirmatory trial showed an increased rate of second cancers; the maker had already pulled it from the U.S. market.5Jun 20 · FDAAI-server assembly.
Super Micro asked the Foreign-Trade Zone Board to clear assembly of AI server systems at its California plants using imported graphics processors and parts subject to China tariffs — a bid to localize compute hardware.6Jun 20 · CommerceAir-rule repeal.
The EPA removed its 2024 air-toxics limits on rubber-tire manufacturing after Congress and the President voided the standard under the Congressional Review Act, erasing the first federal emissions limits on tire-rubber processing.7Jun 20 · EPATrucking deregulation.
Federal regulators issued two final rules cutting trucking paperwork — ending the requirement that commercial drivers self-report violations to their home states, and scrapping the mandate to carry electronic-logging-device manuals in the cab.8Jun 20 · DOTTrainer-jet grounding.
The Air Force grounded its entire T-38 Talon fleet — the supersonic jet used to train fighter and bomber pilots — pending inspections tied to a May 12 crash, forcing aircrews onto simulators.9Jun 20 · Air Force
This week
The Iran war ended on paper.
Trump signed an agreement barring Iran from a nuclear weapon and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which the White House defended June 18 as "America First in action." The deal sets a 60-day clock to a final accord and closes, at least provisionally, the conflict that ran through the spring and kept a chokepoint for global oil shipping contested for months.1Jun 18 · WHA general in Caracas.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Dan Caine, made the first official U.S. military visit to Venezuela on June 18, meeting an interim government and backing Trump's three-phase transition plan for a Venezuela "aligned with the United States." The country holds the world's largest proven oil reserves, and the visit put the top U.S. officer on the ground with a government Washington now backs.2Jun 18 · Joint ChiefsThe box cartel.
The Justice Department's antitrust division indicted four major shipping-container makers and seven Chinese executives on June 18 for fixing prices on roughly $35 billion of global trade. The four firms control about 95% of the world's standard containers — the steel boxes nearly all seaborne cargo moves in — making this one of the widest-reaching price-fixing cases the division has brought.3Jun 18 · DOJRates on hold, energy in the reason.
The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.5–3.75% by unanimous vote June 17, citing inflation still above its 2% goal "in part reflecting supply shocks … including energy." It was a rare moment the Middle East conflict surfaced directly in U.S. monetary policy, tying the contested Strait of Hormuz to the price level at home.4Jun 17 · FedPower for the data centers.
Federal energy regulators ordered all six regional grid operators on June 18 to justify or reform how they connect data centers and other large users, aiming to speed electricity to AI and manufacturing while shielding ratepayers. It answered what the Energy Secretary called "unprecedented electricity demand" — a theme that recurred all week, from a new advanced reactor reaching criticality in Utah to a national-security review of transformer supply chains.5Jun 18 · DOELithium under the Carolinas.
A U.S. Geological Survey study released June 18 estimated 1.43 million metric tons of recoverable lithium oxide in the southern Appalachians — enough to cover roughly 200 years of U.S. imports. It was the week's clearest entry in a running effort to cut reliance on China-dominated mineral supply, alongside a Sandia microwave method for recycling cobalt and two CHIPS awards for chip materials.6Jun 18 · USGS
Allied Governments
North Africa migration.
Britain expanded its North Africa migration programme with a fresh £9 million, extending it to Libya alongside Egypt, Algeria, and Tunisia, as Foreign Secretary Cooper framed migration as a challenge requiring global cooperation.aJun 19 · UK FCDOConflict-violence envoy.
The UK appointed Chris Elmore as Special Envoy on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, citing estimates that up to 30% of women and girls in conflict zones experience sexual violence.bJun 19 · UK FCDONATO planning doctrine.
Britain’s defence ministry published the updated keystone NATO doctrine governing how allied forces plan joint operations — the reference framework for commanders across the alliance.cJun 19 · UK MoD
Voices
“President Trump has made clear that American patients should not be shouldering a disproportionate share of global pharmaceutical research and development.”
U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer · Jun 191
“Fighting the war against disease is a shared burden across wealthy nations.”
HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. · Jun 191
“American farmers deserve competitive markets, not contractual restrictions that limit choice and innovation.”
Associate AG Stanley Woodward, DOJ · Jun 202
“These actions build upon our 2025 USDA-DOJ Memorandum of Understanding strengthening competition in agricultural supply chains for our farmers, who are among the best in the world.”
Agriculture Sec. Brooke Rollins · Jun 202
“Distribution of Epizyme’s TAZVERIK (tazemetostat) tablet, 200 mg, into interstate commerce without an approved application is illegal and subject to regulatory action.”
FDA, drug-withdrawal notice · Jun 205
“Out of an abundance of caution, the Air Force is implementing a fleet-wide operational pause for all T-38 Talon aircraft.”
U.S. Air Force statement · Jun 209
Sources
- USTR, “USTR Announces Initiation of Section 301 Investigation of Germany’s Persistent Underpayment for Innovative Pharmaceutical Products,” June 19, 2026. ustr.gov/…/germany-section-301-pharmaceuticals
- U.S. Dept. of Justice, “Antitrust Division Secures Seed Tying and Loyalty Program Commitments from Bayer,” June 2026. justice.gov/opa/pr/…/bayer-seed-loyalty-commitments
- U.S. Dept. of Energy, “Application for Authorization To Transmit Electric Energy to a Foreign Country” (final rule), June 2026. federalregister.gov/…/transmit-electric-energy-foreign-country
- U.S. Dept. of Commerce, “1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane (R-134a) From the People’s Republic of China: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review,” June 2026. federalregister.gov/…/r-134a-china-antidumping-review
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “Epizyme, Inc.; Withdrawal of Approval of New Drug Application for TAZVERIK (Tazemetostat),” June 2026. federalregister.gov/…/tazverik-tazemetostat-withdrawal
- U.S. Dept. of Commerce, “Foreign-Trade Zone 18; Notification of Proposed Production Activity; Super Micro Computer, Inc. (High-Performance Computing Systems),” June 2026. federalregister.gov/…/ftz-18-super-micro-computer
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Congressional Review Act Revocation of 2024 Amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Rubber Tire Manufacturing,” June 2026. federalregister.gov/…/rubber-tire-cra-revocation
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, “Removal of Self-Reporting Requirement; and Rescinding the ELD Operator’s Manual Requirement in Commercial Motor Vehicles” (final rules), June 2026. federalregister.gov/…/fmcsa-self-reporting-removal
- U.S. Air Force, “T-38 Talon Operational Pause,” June 2026. af.mil/News/…/t-38-talon-operational-pause
- UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, “‘Migration Is a Global Challenge Requiring Global Co-operation’ — Expansion of North Africa Programme to Support Migrants Closer to Home,” June 19, 2026. gov.uk/government/news/…/north-africa-migration-programme
- UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, “Action on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Is Strengthened as New Special Envoy Appointed,” June 19, 2026. gov.uk/government/news/…/preventing-sexual-violence-special-envoy
- UK Ministry of Defence, “Allied Joint Doctrine for the Planning of Operations (AJP-5),” June 19, 2026. gov.uk/government/publications/…/ajp-5-planning-of-operations