Good morning. A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers have proposed a new law to restrict a trade provision, favored by retailers such as Temu and Shein, that lets goods flow in from China with little scrutiny and no duties.

The bill, released Thursday, would block textiles and apparel from being imported through what is known as the de minimis provision. It also would establish a fee of $2 per shipment for goods that aren’t banned from entering via this route.

• Growing concern: De minimis has faced mounting scrutiny as the number of packages entering through that route rose to over one billion in 2023 and continues to grow, largely owing to a rise in shipments coming from China and, in particular, from its burgeoning e-commerce sector.
   
• Wide opposition: Lawmakers in both parties have raised the alarm about the provision, driven by complaints from a number of quarters, including textile manufacturers who argue they are subject to unfair competition, human rights advocates who say goods made with forced labor aren’t receiving enough scrutiny, and law enforcement leaders who contend de minimis shipments are a conduit for smuggling, particularly of fentanyl.
   
• Some defenders: Some argue that the current system works. “Degrading de minimis is a regressive tax increase that slows supply chains and harms small businesses and consumers alike without enhancing enforcement of trade laws at our borders,” said John Pickel, the senior director of supply-chain policy at the National Foreign Trade Council.

Former Mozambique finance minister found guilty in bribery scandal.

A former Mozambique finance minister was convicted Thursday of accepting $7 million in bribes as part of an international kickback scheme involving $2 billion in fraudulent state-backed loans that nearly crippled the African country’s economy.

A New York federal jury found Manuel Chang guilty of a fraud conspiracy and a money-laundering conspiracy after deliberating over three days.

Amazon’s $4 billion investment in AI startup Anthropic comes under U.K. scrutiny.

U.K. antitrust officials are probing whether Amazon.com’s multibillion-dollar investment in artificial-intelligence company Anthropic poses a threat to competition, the latest foray by European regulators into ties between U.S. tech giants and AI startups.

Amazon poured about $4 billion into Anthropic, gaining a minority ownership position in the startup as it jockeys for position in the AI arms race to compete with the likes of Alphabet’s Google, Microsoft and ChatGPT maker OpenAI. Google last year agreed to invest up to $2 billion in Anthropic.

• California has become ground zero in the fight over artificial-intelligence regulation.
   
• An advertising-industry initiative dedicated to safeguarding marketers from harmful content is halting work following a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s social-media platform X.
   
• Crypto firm Ripple Labs' token has jumped in value since a federal judge on Wednesday ordered it to pay a much smaller fine than the Securities and Exchange Commission had sought.
   
• Lawmakers in two states are considering new limits on private-equity purchases of healthcare businesses, seeking to push back against a wave of investment that has reshaped the medical sector in the past decade.

Trump’s plans stir fears for Fed independence, inflation.

Donald Trump’s assertion that as president he should have more say over how the Federal Reserve sets interest rates would, if carried out, reverse a longstanding custom by which the central bank enjoys political autonomy to fight inflation with often unpopular rate increases.

Trump’s comments during a Thursday press conference were the former president’s most direct acknowledgment of his longstanding desire to chip away at the central bank’s independence. If he wins the election and follows through on his pledge to directly influence monetary policy, Trump would break with decades of precedent.

Has the U.S. Economy reached a tipping point?

Until recently, the U.S. appeared to be headed for a soft landing—with inflation coming down while employment has remained high and growth has been steady. Events of the past few weeks, however, have undermined confidence in that outlook, with some economists raising the probability of recession and others saying the Federal Reserve needs to cut interest rates more swiftly to stave one off. The uncertainty is weighing on consumers and businesses of all sizes as they try to make spending decisions and plans.

• Tropical storm Debby made landfall in South Carolina early Thursday, threatening the East Coast with heavy rain and catastrophic flooding.
   
• The U.S. has warned Iran that its newly elected government and economy could suffer a devastating blow if it were to mount a major attack against Israel, a U.S. official said. Meanwhile, Hamas’s elevation of the Oct. 7 attacks’ architect, Yahya Sinwar, as its leader cements the militant group’s strategic ties to Iran, signaling a united front between Tehran and its axis of militias in a conflict with Israel and the U.S.
   
• China’s consumer inflation rose more than expected last month but the data didn’t paint a strong enough picture to dispel concerns about weak demand in the world’s second-largest economy.
   
• Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus took over as head of an interim government in Bangladesh after weeks of violent upheaval marked by mass demonstrations and a crackdown by security forces that has killed hundreds of protesters, police and bystanders.
   
• After more than a year of civil war in Sudan, as many as 150,000 people have been killed and millions have been forced from their homes.

• Lenovo’s ThinkPad laptop hasn’t changed much over the years. Corporate technology leaders say that’s why they love it.
   
• Several companies have said the accountant shortage has contributed to deficiencies in their financial reporting. It could ding CFOs as well.
   
• JD Vance’s track record during his short-lived career as a venture capitalist was mixed, reflecting the realities of early-stage startup investing.
   

🎧 Listen to Vinod Khosla, whose Khosla Ventures was an early investor in OpenAI, discuss the potential good in AI, the future of capitalism and the political climate in the U.S.

• The two teenage suspects arrested over a plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna had planned to drive a bomb-filled car into crowds outside the venue in an attempt to kill as many people as possible, authorities said.
   
• Sales of electric vehicles and hybrids in China surpassed that of internal-combustion-engine cars for the first time ever in July, despite weak overall demand.
   
• Donald Trump called for three debates against Kamala Harris, said presidents should have influence over the Federal Reserve and conceded he might be losing support among Black women during a news conference meant to recapture the spotlight after his rival picked up momentum.
   
• Goldman Sachs is letting some big clients get a piece of one of its hottest businesses.
   
• Nasdaq is taking steps to purge itself of dubious companies whose shares trade below $1 each, following criticism that the exchange has become home to hundreds of risky penny stocks.

Follow us on X at @WSJRisk. Follow Risk & Compliance editor David Smagalla @DSmagalla_DJ and reporters Mengqi Sun @_MengqiSun, Dylan Tokar @dgtokar and Richard Vanderford @VanderfordRich.

You can reach us by replying to any newsletter, or email David at david.smagalla@wsj.com.