Tax Certainty, Trade Tensions, and OSHA Relief

OBBB Highlights: The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) plan locks in the centerpiece of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) - most notably a permanent 21% corporate tax rate - ensuring businesses enjoy some tax certainty. It also cements the Section 199A pass-through deduction for S corporations, a provision credited with supporting 2.6 million jobs, contributing $161 billion in wages, and adding $325 billion to the national economy, according to a recent EY study. These measures reflect long-standing priorities of ASA, which has lobbied consistently for permanence since the TCJA’s enactment.
 

The bill provides targeted relief for individual taxpayers by raising the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions, even as it closes the workaround that allowed certain pass-through entities to bypass the SALT limit. It simultaneously makes permanent the unified estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer exemptions - $15 million per individual and $30 million per couple, indexed for inflation - eliminating the fiscal cliff that threatened to halve estate tax relief. ASA’s advocacy on estate tax reform, led by congressional champions like Senator John Thune (R-SD) and Representative Randy Feenstra (R-IA), helped shape these lasting protections.
 

Tariffs: Over the last week, the Administration sent out tariff letters to about 25 different countries (as well as the EU).  The larger, individual trading partners include Canada, Mexico, Japan, and South Korea.  Mexico seems to be in a better position as its letter outlines the chance at adjustment, should the government continue its crackdown on cartels and the flow of fentanyl.  Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will be in Japan this weekend and may meet with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.  South Korea has indicated that their discussions are ramping up.  While Canada recently committed to dropping its digital services tax, but on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney indicated that he doesn’t foresee a trade deal that does not include tariffs.  Finally, the EU has pushed back its retaliatory tariffs to August, as both sides continue to talk.  As we have seen over the last few months, things can change on a moment’s notice, so stay tuned. 
 

OSHA: This week, OSHA announced updates to its Field Operations Manual (FOM) guidance on penalty and debt collection procedures, aiming to minimize the burden on small businesses and encourage quicker hazard abatement. Under the new policy, employers with up to 25 employees can now qualify for a 70 percent penalty reduction - a benefit previously limited to those with ten or fewer employees. OSHA is also offering a 15 percent reduction for employers who immediately address or correct a cited hazard, and a 20 percent reduction for those with a clean inspection record, defined as never having been inspected by federal OSHA or an OSHA state plan, or having been inspected within the last five years without any serious, willful, or failure-to-abate violations.
 

These changes take effect immediately and apply to any open investigations where penalties have not yet been issued, as well as to all new investigations. Any penalties issued prior to July 14, 2025, will remain subject to the previous penalty structure.