Some of the trade deals the United States recently reached with other nations have a tax angle, in some cases including an agreement to stop imposing digital services taxes (DSTs) on US companies as a condition of more favorable tariff rates. For instance, an October 26 White House statement on an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade said, "Malaysia has committed to refrain from imposing digital services taxes that discriminate against U.S. companies." Malaysia has had a Service Tax on Digital Services (SToDS) in effect since January 1, 2020.

In the coming weeks, the United States and Malaysia will undertake domestic formalities in advance of the Agreement entering into force, the statement said. Law360 reported: "The U.S. expects Malaysia to 'enact necessary reforms as quickly as possible,' a White House official who declined to be named told Law360 on Monday. 'The president reserves the right to adjust tariff rates if any parties renege on their commitments,' the official said."

Additionally, an Agreement Between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Cambodia on Reciprocal Trade says, "Cambodia shall not impose digital services taxes, or similar taxes, that discriminate against U.S. companies, in law or in fact."

The Bloomberg Daily Tax Report said October 30, "The Trump administration's recent trade deals with Southeast Asian countries signal its intent to use such deals in place of treaties to combat digital services taxes or similar taxes that it deems to be discriminating against US companies." Further, "The Trump administration views DSTs as discriminatory, given the majority of companies facing the levies hail from the US," the report said.

Republicans in Congress share those concerns. Over the summer, House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS) said lawmakers must "continue to work on the DST issue because that wasn't resolved and that wasn't as much a part of the agreement as the Pillar 2 piece," referring to the June G7 statement on calling for a side-by-side system that would exempt US multinationals from certain Pillar Two global minimum tax rules. More recently, Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) and other committee members warned that they may pursue retaliatory measures if France pursues a proposal to increase its digital services tax (DST) from 3% to 15% and raise the applicable revenue threshold levels.

On Fox Business October 30, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer said of the new trade agreements generally: "If you take a look at some of the deals we made with Malaysia and Cambodia, for example, which are quite detailed, it brings down their tariffs, it brings down their non-tariff barriers, has cooperation on circumvention and trans-shipment, like you were talking about, has elements of economic security."

Congress — The government shutdown will continue into next week with the Senate having left Washington until Monday, November 3. Lawmakers may be nearing a turning point in the negotiations as the White House has cautioned Senate Republicans against consideration of more rifle-shot bills to ensure certain constituencies are being paid and there is more intense focus on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollment period that begins November 1 and funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that may not be provided into November. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates, about 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP benefits through debit cards could lose those payments in November as contingency funds are depleted.

The exact nature of a potential deal isn't known, but on October 30 Semafor reported that Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Mark Warner (D-VA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said there are members of both parties who are motivated to end the shutdown and are discussing potential solutions. Several reports suggested a deal could come together next week, especially with the Senate scheduled to be in recess the week of November 10. A story in the October 30 Wall Street Journal cited Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) as similarly saying talks are picking up. "More of the conversation is happening," Senator Cortez Masto said.

"The financial pain from the government shutdown is spreading and the legislative options for both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are narrowing, prompting a pickup in informal talks to resolve the nearly monthlong impasse," the report said. "Lawmakers point to deadlines within days that they hope will force a breakthrough before money stops flowing for food-stamp benefits and enhanced healthcare subsidies."

An editorial in the October 30 Washington Post said of the SNAP issue, "This pain point, combined with three other dynamics, should help hasten an end to the shutdown as early as next week by making Democrats blink." The editorial cited as pressure points the ACA enrollment period beginning, the November 4 gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey and other state elections, and the growing impatience of federal employee unions — at least one of which, the American Federation of Government Employees, has called for a clean continuing resolution and an end to the shutdown.

"The right answer is to reopen the government with a clean funding bill, ideally for a full year, to get food stamps flowing and federal workers back in the office, and then have a debate about ACA subsidies," the editorial said. "Democrats openly acknowledge that they refuse to do this because it would mean giving up their leverage. If they persist, it could mean families start to go hungry."

Politico reported October 30 that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) warned that any deal to advance full-year spending bills would move forward only after Democrats agree to a CR to reopen federal agencies, and that it would take days, if not weeks, for the Senate to pass a package of larger spending bills. "Even if you've got consent, it's still going to take a while to move those bills across the floor so we've got to reopen the government and then we'll have a normal appropriations process," he said. Leader Thune previously said on Tuesday that he expects to engage "pretty soon" with a group of rank-and-file Senate Democrats about ending the shutdown.

The November 21 end date of the House-passed government funding measure is fast approaching, and for weeks there has been speculation about a longer proposed extension. Axios reported October 29 that "House and Senate Republicans are coalescing around a continuing resolution that would run well into January," to give appropriators time for a longer-term approach to government funding and to avoid a pre-holiday deadline.

Trade — On October 29, the Senate approved S.J.Res.77, a joint resolution terminating the national emergency declared to impose duties on articles imported from Canada. The vote was 50-46 with Republicans Collins, Murkowski, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Rand Paul (R-KY) voting in favor of the resolution. On October 30, the Senate approved S.J.Res.88, a joint resolution terminating the national emergency declared to impose global tariffs, with the same group of Republican backers. Those GOP members also helped pass a resolution on Tuesday to terminate the national emergency President Trump declared to impose duties on articles imported from Brazil, in addition to Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), who voted against the two subsequent resolutions. Senator Tillis was reported as saying the Brazil tariff is "very different" because it appeared to center on a disagreement that had nothing to do with business or trade.

It's unclear whether the votes will be anything more than symbolic. A rule on unrelated legislation passed by the House in September extends through March 31, 2026, a prohibition on congressional challenges to President Trump's tariffs. Specifically, the rule extends language addressing the counting of calendar days under the National Emergencies Act (NEA) with respect to a tariff-related declared emergency.

Crypto — Politico reported on October 30 that bipartisan talks on a crypto "market structure" regulation package, previously stalled by the shutdown and a dispute over the process for drafting the bill, "are now heating up." Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-AR), whose panel has jurisdiction over digital assets treated as commodities, "is working daily with committee member Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) to finalize their part of a bill establishing a regulatory regime, and plan to release a bipartisan proposal 'very, very soon,' " the story said. Bipartisan negotiators on the part of the bill being drafted by the Senate Banking Committee have also been meeting off the chamber's floor, "with several expressing optimism this week about reaching a deal on the new rules in their jurisdiction in the coming weeks." One exception has been senior Banking Committee member John Kennedy (R-LA), who suggested the bill wasn't yet ready to go, that "it needs a public hearing and that most senators still don't understand the issue."

Separately, this week Bloomberg reported that crypto-aligned super PACs collectively have amassed about $263 million to spend on the 2026 midterm elections. Drawing from FEC filings, public statements and data from OpenSecrets.org, Bloomberg said that sum is close to twice what the largest pro-crypto super PAC, Fairshake, spent in the 2024 election cycle, and slightly higher than what the oil and gas industry spent altogether in 2024.