U.S. Ends $800 Tariff Exemption, Musk Battles SEC, Walgreens goes private & Fed Governor Sues Trump

29th August 2025

Washington scraps the long-standing tariff exemption on low-value imports, reshaping global e-commerce flows. Elon Musk moves to dismiss an SEC lawsuit tied to his Twitter stake. Walgreens goes private as Sycamore closes deals. And Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook sues President Trump over his attempt to remove her from the board. All this and more in today’s Read It And Eat!

Major Headlines 

• US low-value package tariff exemption ends, raising costs for shippers, consumers

The U.S. tariff exemption for package shipments valued under $800 ended on Friday, raising costs and disrupting supply chain models for e-commerce companies, small businesses using online marketplaces, and consumers alike.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency began collecting normal duty rates on all global parcel imports, regardless of value, country of origin, or mode of transportation, at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) on Friday. It offered a flat-rate duty option of $80 to $200 per package shipped from foreign postal agencies for six months.

The move broadens the Trump administration's cancellation of the de minimis exemption for packages from China and Hong Kong in May as part of an effort to halt shipments of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into the U.S. "President Trump's ending of the deadly de minimis loophole will save thousands of American lives by restricting the flow of narcotics and other dangerous prohibited items, and add up to $10 billion a year in tariff revenues to our Treasury," White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told reporters on Thursday. "This is a permanent change," a senior administration official said, adding that any push to restore the exemptions for trusted trading partner countries was "dead on arrival."

The de minimis exemption has been in place since 1938, starting at $5 for gift imports, and was raised from $200 to $800 in 2015 as a means to foster small-business growth on e-commerce marketplaces.

But direct shipments from China exploded after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods during his first term, creating a new direct-to-consumer business model for e-commerce firms Shein and Temu (PDD.O). The National Coalition of Textile Organizations called the move a "historic win" for U.S. manufacturing by closing a loophole that allowed foreign fast-fashion firms to avoid tariffs and import apparel sometimes made with forced labor, undercutting American jobs.

"The administration’s executive action closes this channel and delivers long overdue relief to the U.S. textile industry and its workers," the group said. CBP has estimated that the number of packages claiming the de minimis exemption jumped nearly tenfold, from 139 million in fiscal 2015 to 1.36 billion in fiscal 2024, a rate of nearly 4 million per day. Reuters

• Musk Seeks Dismissal of SEC Lawsuit Over 2022 Twitter Stake

Billionaire Elon Musk filed a motion on Thursday to dismiss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) civil lawsuit that accused him of waiting too long in 2022 to reveal his large stake in social media platform Twitter, later renamed X.

In a complaint filed in Washington, D.C. federal court in January, the SEC said Musk violated federal securities law by waiting 11 days too long to disclose his initial purchase of 5% of Twitter's common shares. It sought to force Musk to pay a civil fine and give up profits that the SEC said were a result of the violations.

Lawyers for Musk said on Thursday the billionaire stopped purchasing additional shares of then publicly-listed Twitter and filed his disclosure one business day after his wealth manager consulted securities disclosure counsel about potential filing requirements.

An SEC rule requires investors to disclose within 10 calendar days when they cross a 5% ownership threshold, which would have been by March 24, 2022 in Musk's case. The SEC said that at the expense of unsuspecting investors, Musk instead bought more than $500 million of Twitter shares at artificially low prices before finally revealing his purchases on April 4, 2022, by which time he owned a 9.2% stake.

The SEC sued Musk on January 14, six days  before Republican President Donald Trump took office and made Musk a special adviser to slash the federal workforce and spending. Musk faced a deadline to respond to the court by Friday. Musk's lawyers said the case should not have been brought and that the billionaire did not mean any harm. They said the SEC's action against Musk "reveals an agency targeting an individual for his protected criticism of government overreach."

"The SEC does not allege that Mr. Musk acted intentionally, deliberately, willfully, or even recklessly... Rather, the SEC alleges that Mr. Musk late-filed a single beneficial ownership form three years ago, and fully corrected any alleged error immediately upon its discovery. There is no ongoing violation," the Tesla (TSLA.O) and SpaceX CEO's lawyers said. Reuters

• Walgreens Goes Private as Sycamore Closes Deal, Staples CEO to Replace Tim Wentworth

Walgreens Boots Alliance is officially private and will cease to exist as a vertically integrated business on the Nasdaq, after Sycamore Partners closed its deal to acquire the retail pharmacy giant on Thursday. Operations of the 124-year-old company will now be split, with various business segments becoming standalone entities, according to a company statement.

“Going forward, Walgreens, The Boots Group, Shields Health Solutions, CareCentrix, and VillageMD will operate as separate standalone companies,” the statement read. The news follows Walgreens’ removal from the S&P 500 (^GSPC), where it was replaced by brokerage firm Interactive Brokers (IBKR).

In addition to the deal closing, Staples CEO Mike Motz is set to take over leadership as Tim Wentworth exits. Motz, who has led Staples for just over six years, is expected to bring a retail-driven focus to the struggling pharmacy chain.

Under Wentworth, Walgreens pursued a turnaround strategy that included shuttering stores and reducing store sizes in a bid to boost profitability. Like other retailers, the company has faced mounting pressure from e-commerce platforms and delivery apps. 

Stefano Pessina, Walgreens’ longtime chairperson, will remain involved in the business and is part of the deal’s closing. “Sycamore is acquiring the business in partnership with Stefano Pessina and his family, who have reinvested 100% of their interests in WBA, demonstrating their ongoing support and confidence in the company’s future,” Walgreens said.

Walgreens’ stock will cease trading, and shareholders will receive $11.45 per share, plus up to an additional $3 per share from the net proceeds of any future VillageMD sale Yahoo.Finance

• US Fed Governor Lisa Cook Sues Trump Over Attempt to Fire Her

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has sued President Donald Trump over his attempt to fire her, setting up a potential legal battle with implications for the U.S. central bank's autonomy.

Cook has asked the court to declare Trump's firing order "unlawful and void," and also named Fed Chairman Jerome Powell as a defendant.

Trump has said there was "sufficient reason" to believe Cook had made false statements on her mortgage, and cited constitutional powers which he said allowed him to remove her. Cook previously said that "no cause exists under the law" to sack her. 

The president has put increasing pressure on the Fed over what he sees as an unwillingness to lower interest rates. Cook is part of the board responsible for setting interest rates in the U.S. Thursday's lawsuit is likely to bring up a number of legal challenges that could end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.

"This case challenges President Trump's unprecedented and illegal attempt to remove Governor Cook from her position which, if allowed to occur, would be the first of its kind in the Board's history," Abbe Lowell, Cook's attorney, wrote in the lawsuit.

"It would subvert the Federal Reserve Act ... which explicitly requires a showing of 'cause' for a Governor's removal, which an unsubstantiated allegation about private mortgage applications submitted by Governor Cook prior to her Senate confirmation is not," Lowell wrote. White House spokesperson Kush Desai told the BBC the president "exercised his lawful authority to remove" Cook.

"The President determined there was cause to remove a governor who was credibly accused of lying in financial documents from a highly sensitive position overseeing financial institutions," he said. "The removal of a governor for cause improves the Federal Reserve Board's accountability and credibility for both the markets and American people."

The Federal Reserve Act does not give the president authority to remove a Fed official at will, but as Trump has said, it does allow him to do so "for cause." BBC

Minor Headlines

• Dell lifts annual forecasts on AI server sales boom Reuters

  
  

• White House says US deal with Intel 'still being ironed out' Reuters

  
  

• Wang Ning, the man behind the viral Labubu dolls, is $20 billion richer this year and wealthier than Peter Thiel Yahoo.Finance

  
  

• China’s Didi Pays $740 Million to Settle Lawsuit Over US IPO — Bloomberg 

  
  

• Walgreens Replaces CEO and Splits Up After Sycamore Acquisition —Bloomberg 

  
  

• Threads tests a way to share long-form text on the platform — TechCrunch

  
  

• Nike to cut corporate jobs amid turnaround effort — Reuters

  
  

• Forever 21 looks to resurrect China, North America business with new partners — Reuters

  
  
  
  
  
  

  Earning Headlines 

  
  

  Technology

  
  

  • Nvidia beat on Q2 earnings, revenue, and Q3 guidance on a 56% sales increase but missed on data center revenue and excluded China from forecasts amid trade uncertainty, causing shares to dip 3% AH (CNBC) 

  • HP beat Q3 revenue estimates on strong demand for AI-powered PCs and the Windows 11 upgrade, successful supply-chain rebalancing out of China, and continued momentum from both AI adoption and the OS refresh (RT) 

  • CrowdStrike issued a Q2 beat-and-raise on record net new ARR boosted by demand in enterprise AI transformation, though Q3 revenue guidance came in short (WSJ) 

  • Snowflake beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates and issued a strong FY forecast as a 32% rise in product sales eased fears of slowing demand and AI competition (BBG) 

  • MongoDB issued a Q2 beat-and-raise as customer additions surged past 5k in H1 with many new clients identified as AI-native companies (CNBC) 

  
  
  
  

  Consumer & Retail

  
  

  • Brinker International, the parent of Chili's, will pay out special bonuses after Chili's posted its highest FY sales and profit since listing 40 years ago (WSJ)

  • Kohl's beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates and narrowed FY sales guidance though sales declined with lower and middle-income consumers trading down and the firm attempting a turnaround after a CEO exit (CNBC) 

  • Abercrombie issued a Q2 beat-and-raise despite slowing sales growth amid strength in its Hollister brand and expectations for international expansion and partnerships to drive growth (CNBC) 

  • Lego posted record H1 earnings and revenue as sales rose 12% to $5.4B on the back brand tie-ups, record-high set launches, and global store growth (CNBC)