October 29, 2026 - Washington, D.C. - On Wednesday, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, demanded records from President Donald Trump on sweetheart tariff exemptions benefiting corporations and industries that showered him with lavish gifts and political contributions. Trump has turned tariffs into another tool for grift and self-enrichment, handing out the “Trump Tariff Discount” to his benefactors while American families, small businesses and farmers pay the price.

“[…] I write you now because, in the midst of all these terrible and lawless policies, you took care to cut lots of sweetheart deals with corporations and industries that won carve-outs from your tariffs when you saw you could get something good in return. […] Brazilian beef tongues, Chinese smartphones, and Belgian blood diamonds all got sweetheart exemptions from your latest raft of tariffs. While tariffs are supposed to be a toll to combat unfair trade practices, in your hands they have become yet another tool for grift and self-enrichment,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin.

After the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s unlawful emergency tariffs, his Administration imposed a new round of tariffs purportedly targeting forced labor. The Administration’s sudden concern for forced-labor victims is difficult to square with Trump’s past praise for the Chinese government’s enslavement of Uyghurs or his Administration’s decision to lift sanctions on a sugar company accused of abusive labor practices—and that happens to be owned by a prominent Trump donor.  

The new tariffs’ conspicuous exemptions for beef, diamonds, and smartphones further undermine the Administration’s stated rationale. These carve-outs make little sense given the Administration’s ostensible concern for forced labor. They do, however, begin to make sense when viewed in light of the gifts and campaign contributions flowing to Trump:  

• Brazilian beef: Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS’s U.S. subsidiary, Pilgrim’s Pride, donated $5 million to Trump’s inaugural fund—the largest donation from any single company. JBS co-owner Joesley Batista then met privately with Trump in the Oval Office, and the next day Trump announced relief for Brazilian beef imports. The Administration exempted nearly 40 categories of beef and bovine products despite American cattle producers’ objections about forced labor in Brazil’s cattle sector. Its justification: “the specific direction of the President.” The resulting influx threatens to further crush American ranchers already struggling with rising costs.
• Diamonds: Belgium’s Antwerp diamond sector presented Trump with a ring featuring no less than 321 natural diamonds, explicitly tying the gift to its trade relationship with the United States. One month later, Trump exempted its diamonds from tariffs. The exemption undercuts the Administration’s stated forced-labor rationale: the Department of Labor identifies diamonds as a product of forced or child labor, and American producers already make competing lab-grown diamonds. The gift is unconstitutional and may constitute criminal bribery.
• Smartphones: Tim Cook donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee and presented him with a custom gold Apple plaque, while Apple contributed an amount it refuses to disclose to Trump’s ballroom. The Administration exempted smartphones imported from China without explaining how that decision advanced its purported campaign against forced labor, despite documented abuses in smartphone manufacturing.

Trump’s carve-outs also protect luxury reptile leather, antiques, rare collectibles and AI data centers, in which Trump and his sons reportedly hold substantial investments. While Trump shields his benefactors and personal investments, independent analysts expect his latest tariffs to cost the average American household $820 this year.

“These chaotic and abusive tariffs, like the ones before them, hurt the American people. As the Trump Tariff Discounts plainly reveal, your arbitrary flexing of your tariff authority was never about delivering wins for American businesses and consumers. It was about handing you levers of power that you could maliciously pull to extract exciting concessions for yourself,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin.

Ranking Member Raskin is demanding White House and U.S. Trade Representative communications about tariff exemptions, contacts with companies and lobbyists seeking relief, and records of gifts and contributions from those seeking favorable treatment. He also seeks internal records showing whether those financial relationships factored into tariff decisions and requests preservation of all relevant communications.

Click here to read the letter.