Good day. I'm Prabha Natarajan, chief editor of WSJ Professional Products.

This summer has been one for the books. We have a new Democratic candidate, the presidential race has become truly unpredictable, and it became clear that the Federal Reserve needs to start cutting rates.

Executives and companies are looking beyond the next couple of months and planning ahead even as they face an extended wave of uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the U.S. election and what that will mean for policy and regulation coming out of Washington.

Anticipating how much and how quickly the Fed will cut interest rates only adds to the complexity for corporate leaders and investors as they try to put together a winning strategy.

WSJ Pro journalists have dug into some of these issues and put together stories that can help with some of the decision making.

Here’s what you should know on policy, regulation and rates:

🔴 Former President Donald Trump has said he would roll out new tariffs with a potential 10% across-the-board duty on imported goods and a 60% tariff on goods from China. During his presidency, Trump kicked off a new era of tariffs with duties on a wide-ranging list of goods, especially from China.

🔵 Vice President Kamala Harris hasn’t indicated a desire to deviate much from President Biden’s trade policies though she has criticized Trump’s tariff plan. The Biden administration kept most of the tariffs imposed by Trump in place, and then added further duties on Chinese steel, semiconductors and electric vehicles.

Pro Take: Both Democrats and Republicans are using tariffs as a tool to tackle trade and geopolitical issues, and that isn’t likely to change. This will continue to affect sourcing and manufacturing decisions of U.S. companies, many of which are pulling away from China or planning to. Read more.

🔵Harris has endorsed increasing the levy to 28% from its current 21%.

🔴Trump, meanwhile, recently told executives he wanted a 20% corporate tax rate and has floated a levy as low as 15%.

Pro Take: With the election less than three months away, a top question from company insiders is what rate to model for, tax advisers say. Their current response: around 25%. Read more.

🔴Trump in his time in the Oval Office ratcheted up the use of sanctions and similar tools, particularly targeting China. However, recently, Trump said he didn’t “love” sanctions but had found them useful with Iran.

🔵The Harris campaign recently tapped Brian Nelson, a former Treasury official who until recently headed the department’s efforts to counter illicit finance, as a member of her team. Observers roundly expect that Harris’s approach would at least mirror, and perhaps be even tougher, than that of the Biden administration, which added 1,621 entities and 879 people to its sanctions list in 2023, according to the Center for a New American Security.

Pro Take: The zealous use of the tool—a low-cost way to press the U.S.’s agenda abroad—will likely continue as a permanent feature of U.S. foreign policy, regardless of who wins this year’s presidential election. Read more.

Pro Take: M&A is expected to make a comeback. But, it isn’t clear whether lower rates and cheaper debt will help juice valuations to the point where firms can sell at attractive prices. Read more.

Pro Take: A durable boost for green projects would need a Goldilocks economic scenario in which a cut to borrowing costs doesn’t coincide with other fears, including an unfriendly administration. Read more.

As of late May, the Biden administration had issued 273 economically significant rules—more than any of the past six administrations managed to accomplish in the entire four years of their first term. Regulators have made it clear that additional rules are in the works. But, many of the president's most ambitious rules are face legal and business resistances. 

Pro Take: Heightened political polarization coupled with the Supreme Court’s rulings on administrative power are injecting unpredictability into the rule-making process. Irrespective of the election outcome, the wave of legal challenges to some of the business-focused rules will have to make its way through the legal system. Read more.

In the U.S., a complex patchwork of legislation across states, cities and counties offer more explicit rules that regulate digital privacy, cybersecurity and technology, such as artificial intelligence.

This has led to: 19 states passing their own comprehensive privacy laws that companies need to follow. 

Without any clear guidance on AI-generated images and videos, companies are creating their own rules for it. 

Pro Take: What lawmakers and businesses agree on is the need for a federal law instead of the patchwork system taking shape as more states pass their own rules. States aren’t stopping at rule-making, they also are picking up the gauntlet on enforcement.

Insolvency laws. While Congress hasn’t done much to change the bankruptcy system in recent years, the insolvency process for businesses and individuals saw significant changes during the Biden administration.

Pro Take: Some of the changes are likely here for good, like the Supreme Court ruling against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma will make it harder for business owners to resolve mass lawsuits in chapter 11. But student-loan debt relief faces an uneasy future. Read more.

✍️ What other policy issues are you focusing on?

Send me a note on how you are navigating a complex set of circumstances and staying ahead.

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