REGULATORY RUNDOWN | May 26 - June 09

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The Regulatory Rundown: May 26-June 9

DOL to offer prevailing wage requirement webinars. On June 9, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that its Wage and Hour Division will offer webinars on prevailing wage requirements in 2025 for contractors, workers, and other stakeholders involved in federally funded construction and service contracts. The two-day online seminars are scheduled for June 25-26 and September 24-25. More information is available here.

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DOL launches opinion letter program. On June 2, DOL announced the launch of its opinion letter program, expanding the department’s compliance assistance with federal labor laws. The letters provide official written interpretations from DOL’s enforcement agencies, “explaining how laws apply to specific factual circumstances presented by individuals or organizations.” More information is available here.

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Trump increases steel, aluminum tariffs to 50%. On June 3, President Trump signed a proclamation increasing the tariff to 50% on steel and aluminum. The proclamation raised the tariff on steel and aluminum imports from 25% to 50%, with the higher tariff taking effect on June 4, 2025.

Tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the UK will remain at 25%, “with possible changes or quotas starting July 9, 2025, depending on the status of the U.S.-UK Economic Prosperity Deal.” The tariffs will apply only to the steel and aluminum contents of imported products, with the non-steel and non-aluminum contents of imports being subject to other applicable tariffs.

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NSBA weighs in. On May 29, NSBA submitted comments in response to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) request for information on the development of a 2025 National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan. In the comments, NSBA urged NSF to support AI R&D grants and subsidies designated specifically for small businesses, open access to public datasets and compute resources, and partnerships with vocational institutes tailored for employees of small businesses. Read the full comments here.

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Reg rundown readers weigh in. In case you missed it, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Advocacy is calling on NSBA to assist in its deregulatory initiatives. Actioning this request, please complete our Regulatory Survey to help NSBA and the Office of Advocacy make regulations work for small business.

All responses will remain anonymous and confidential. NSBA never sells our lists, and only the aggregate data will be shared publicly. This survey should take no more than 10 minutes of your time.

Take the survey here.