Announcement date records publication; the effective date is the date in the existing record. An announcement or investigation does not by itself establish a new duty. Check the linked official instrument for applicability.
On October 13, 2026, Commerce published preliminary results of its July 1, 2024–June 30, 2025 review of welded stainless steel pressure pipe from Vietnam, proposing a 90.80% dumping margin for the Vietnam-wide entity. Case briefs are due within 21 days of publication, with rebuttal briefs due five days after the case-brief deadline. Any cash-deposit rates established by this review would apply only upon publication of final results.
Regulation (EU) 2026/2245, published on October 9, requires registration from October 10, 2026 of certain Chinese-origin polyvinyl alcohols manufactured by Sinopec Chongqing SVW Chemical and Sinopec Great Wall Energy & Chemical Ningxia, under TARIC 3905300091. Registration lasts nine months and allows possible retroactive anti-dumping duties; no estimated future duty amount is specified. Customs authorities must defer duty repayment or remission decisions for these products until the regulation concluding the re-examination enters into force.
Commerce published final results of the 2023 countervailing duty review of certain Korean hot-rolled steel flat products on October 9, 2026, establishing rates of 1.28% for Hyundai Steel and 3.68% for POSCO. These rates apply to cash deposits for covered shipments entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after October 9, 2026. Firms not reviewed retain their applicable company-specific or all-others deposit rates.
MOFCOM published Announcement No. 46 on October 9, 2026, setting 2027 import tariff-rate quotas of 1,945,000 tonnes for sugar, 287,000 tonnes for wool and 80,000 tonnes for wool tops. Sugar applications run from October 15 to October 30, 2026, with 70% of the sugar quota reserved for state trading. Wool and wool-top quotas are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis against import contracts.
On October 9, 2026, Commerce published preliminary results of its 2024–2025 review of Thai passenger vehicle and light-truck tyres, proposing a 1.14% dumping margin for Sumitomo Rubber (Thailand) and the non-examined companies covered by the review. Case briefs are due within 21 days of publication, with rebuttals due five days after the case-brief deadline. New cash-deposit rates would apply only upon publication of final review results.
Commerce's October 9, 2026 preliminary review results propose dumping margins of 20.08% for Nice Packaging (Cambodia), Brandart and TB Packaging (Cambodia), and 73.30% for UUPak, on certain paper shopping bags for the 2024–2025 review. Case briefs are due within 21 days of publication and rebuttals within five days after that deadline. New cash-deposit rates would take effect only when final review results are published.
Verified 2026-10-08: §122 was 10% and expired 2026-07-24. Forced-labor §301 took effect 2026-07-24 at 10%–12.5%, with product exemptions and country-specific combined-rate rules.
Two weeks into the EU's new steel import regime — Regulation (EU) 2026/1384, in force July 1 with quotas cut 47%, a 50% over-quota tariff and a melt-and-pour origin rule, with country allocations set by temporary Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1457 — first-come-first-served quotas are already exhausting. Per trade-press tracking (GMK Center analysis of July 14; SteelOrbis), Turkey's Category 1A hot-rolled coil quota was oversubscribed on day one, with 229,564 tonnes requested against 160,574 tonnes allocated — a 43% overage; Turkey's HRC allocation stands roughly 60% below the prior safeguard level (642,249 t vs 1.59 Mt). India exhausted its quotas for non-alloy/alloy hot-rolled sheets (225,305 t) and stainless bars and light sections (31,765 t), with 3,818 t and 410 t respectively waiting at EU ports facing the 50% over-quota duty. Internationally, Brazil warned of possible retaliatory trade-defense measures, Taiwan reserved its WTO rights, Japan's steel industry called the measures unfair (a quota of roughly 800 kt against average 2022-24 exports of 1.5 Mt), and Ukraine is hardest hit with a quota of about 1.05 Mt against 2.63 Mt of 2025 exports. No formal WTO challenge had been filed as of July 14.
Verified 2026-10-08: §122 was 10% and expired 2026-07-24. Forced-labor §301 took effect 2026-07-24 at 10%–12.5%, with product exemptions and country-specific combined-rate rules.
The UK-India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the accompanying Double Contribution Convention both entered into force on July 15, 2026, HMRC confirmed in a trade-tariff notice published July 13. The agreement was signed on July 24, 2025 and completed ratification after a House of Commons debate on February 9, 2026 and a House of Lords debate on March 4, 2026. Under the CETA, 99% of Indian exports enter the UK duty-free, while India removes tariffs on roughly 64% of UK product lines, including salmon, lamb, aircraft parts, machinery and electronics. India's tariff on Scotch whisky drops from 150% to 75% immediately, staging down to 40% over 10 years, with gin cuts similarly staged. The UK government estimates beverage exports to India could rise by 180%, worth around £700 million.
July 10, 2026 was the USTR deadline for public comments on the design of the US-China 'Board of Trade' mechanism and on the scope of up to $30 billion of tariff relief for 'non-sensitive' Chinese imports; rebuttal comments run through July 27 under the docket opened in June. On the agricultural track, Bloomberg reported July 2 — with subsequent July 8 trade-press reporting — that the two sides agreed in principle for the US to end its 10% fentanyl-related tariff and for China to reciprocally drop its 10% retaliatory tariff on US agricultural goods including soybeans and grains, targeting roughly October 1, 2026. As of July 15, however, no announcement from China's Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council has formalized the reduction. China's stated purchase commitments are at least 25 million tons of soybeans per year through 2028 and at least $17 billion per year of US agricultural products; actual new-season bookings so far total only about 200,000 tons. For context, GACC June data released July 14 showed China's exports up 27% year on year — the fastest pace since October 2021 — with shipments to the US up 14%.
China imposed a temporary export prohibition on helium (customs code 2804.29.0010), effective immediately, through MOFCOM-GACC Joint Announcement No. 29 of 2026, issued July 10. The ban covers all destinations, states no end date and provides no exemptions. Its legal basis is the Foreign Trade Law rather than the Export Control Law, and the stated rationale is protecting domestic supply as renewed Middle East conflict disrupts global helium flows; China imports over 80% of its helium. Helium is critical to semiconductor manufacturing as a cooling and purge gas, so the measure lands hardest on chip-adjacent supply chains. It is China's first new trade countermeasure since the June 22 export-control list additions covering 10 US firms and the June 24 supply-chain investigation rules.
Verified 2026-10-08: §122 was 10% and expired 2026-07-24. Forced-labor §301 took effect 2026-07-24 at 10%–12.5%, with product exemptions and country-specific combined-rate rules.
Per trade-bar reporting by Thompson Hine in July 2026, a presidential proclamation issued July 9 concluded the Section 232 investigation into commercial aircraft, jet engines and parts that was initiated in May 2025. Commerce found that the imports threaten national security, but the Secretary recommended no immediate tariffs. Instead, the proclamation directs Commerce and USTR to pursue negotiated agreements with trading partners, with a status update due to the President in 180 days — around January 5, 2027 — and tariff remedies expressly reserved if the talks fail. This is the first Section 232 case of this administration resolved via a negotiation directive rather than immediate duties.
Houthi forces resumed attacks on merchant shipping in the Red Sea after a months-long lull — the first sustained attacks since late 2025. On July 5 a bulker came under gunfire about 30 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah, with the crew safe; on July 6 the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulker Magic Seas was attacked 51 nautical miles southwest of Al-Hudaydah with drones, missiles, RPGs and small arms — the crew of 22 abandoned ship and the vessel sank, as confirmed by Houthi-released video. On July 7 the Greek-owned Eternity C was attacked by UAVs and RPG-armed speedboats and sank on July 9; 4 crew were killed and 11 mariners, Indian and Filipino, were seized and remained in Houthi custody as of July 10. The Houthis declared a ban on ships they deem 'Israeli-linked,' and US MARAD issued advisory 2026-006 for the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb and Gulf of Aden. Suez containership transits were already about 60% below pre-crisis levels — roughly 26 per week versus about 80 — and Maersk had re-diverted select services via the Cape of Good Hope from March 2026. The sinkings entrench Cape routing, which typically adds 10-14 days of transit plus higher fuel and war-risk premiums on Asia-Europe and Asia-US East Coast lanes.
The European Commission imposed definitive anti-dumping duties of 4.3% to 45.3% on new pneumatic rubber tyres for passenger cars and light lorries (load index up to 121) from China, announced July 9, 2026, with the regulation published in the Official Journal (L series, 2026/1540) on July 7. The injury findings cite 2024 EU consumption of roughly 330 million units worth about €18 billion, against Chinese imports of 93 million units worth about €2.5 billion — a 28% market share — while the EU tyre industry employs more than 80,000 people across 14 member states. A parallel anti-subsidy (countervailing) investigation into the same product concludes in December 2026, meaning combined duties are possible from that point. In the same week, the Commission opened its first-ever anti-dumping investigation into a Chinese agricultural product — Pekin duck meat, following a complaint by five EU producers, opened July 9, per Borderlex and SCMP reporting. On July 14 the Commission also published its first review of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, finding it 'fit for purpose' with procedural simplifications planned for autumn 2026.
On July 9, 2026 the European Commission opened a public consultation, with feedback accepted until August 6, 2026, on a draft delegated regulation governing the sale and repurchase of CBAM certificates, the operation of the common central platform, fees, and the platform's interaction with the CBAM Registry. Under the draft, certificates are non-transferable and non-tradable; each carries a unique ID and is assigned exclusively to the purchasing declarant. Declarants place purchase and repurchase requests in the CBAM Registry, and the platform processes the payments. Certificates go on sale February 1, 2027, and the first surrender deadline is September 30, 2027, covering 2026 imports. 2026 remains a data-collection year with no quarterly reports and no certificate purchases; the Q2 2026 reference price of €75.28, published July 6, is the latest price signal.
On July 6, 2026 the European Commission published the Q2 2026 CBAM certificate quarterly reference price: €75.28/tCO2e, versus €75.36 for Q1 (published April 7), computed as the weighted average of EU ETS auction clearing prices over the quarter. Publication is quarterly through 2026 and moves to weekly from 2027. Compliance framing under the definitive regime in force since January 1, 2026: the transitional quarterly CBAM reports ended with the Q4 2025 report — there is no quarterly declaration due July 6 and no certificate purchases in 2026. This year's obligations are limited to importers above the 50-tonne/year de minimis becoming authorised CBAM declarants and collecting verified emissions data. Certificate sales open February 1, 2027 on the central platform, and the first annual CBAM declaration plus certificate surrender deadline is September 30, 2027 (postponed from the original May 31, 2027). With the 2026 adjustment factor at 2.5%, the cash impact stays small this year (roughly €1-4 per tonne of imported steel); the price matters mainly for modeling the 2027-2034 ramp.
Verified 2026-10-08: §122 was 10% and expired 2026-07-24. Forced-labor §301 took effect 2026-07-24 at 10%–12.5%, with product exemptions and country-specific combined-rate rules.
On July 1, 2026 the three USMCA parties held the mandatory first joint review, conducted virtually under Article 34.7. USTR Ambassador Greer's same-day statement: 'The United States did not agree to renew the USMCA in its current form. As a result, the USMCA is not renewed.' The US refusal blocks the automatic 16-year extension to 2042 and shifts the agreement into annual joint reviews each July 1; absent a future consensus to extend, the USMCA terminates July 1, 2036 under Article 34.7's sunset mechanics (the 2036 date is drawn from law-firm analyses, not the USTR statement itself). Mexico (President Sheinbaum) and Canada had both submitted written support for the 16-year extension, having floated an extension to 2042 with 6-year reviews — rejected by the US; Economy Secretary Ebrard has floated a fallback of 10-year extension terms. The agreement remains fully in force meanwhile: tariff preferences, rules of origin and dispute settlement are unchanged, and roughly 85% of Mexican exports to the US still enter tariff-free under USMCA compliance. Mexico's next-phase priority is negotiating down US §232 steel/aluminum/auto tariffs, while Canada's retaliatory tariffs (~C$15.6bn on US steel/aluminum plus autos) remain in place.
The UK's new steel trade measure — announced March 19, 2026, with formal details published June 30 on gov.uk and the UK Integrated Online Tariff — took effect July 1, 2026, replacing the old safeguard (quota plus 25% over-quota) which ended June 30. Duty-free quotas are cut 51% versus the old safeguard, and the over-quota tariff is a flat 50% ad valorem, calculated before other import duties. Coverage spans 20 product categories (hot-rolled coil, coated sheet, organic-coated, tinplate, plate, merchant bar, rebar, stainless bar, wire rod, sections, rail material, gas pipe, hollow sections, large welded tube, other welded tube, cold-worked bar, non-alloy wire, etc. — two more than the old measure). Country-specific quotas go to the EU, India, Korea, Vietnam, Turkey, Japan, the US, Switzerland, and the UAE; Ukraine is fully exempt under FTA preference. The quota period runs July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 with quarterly allocation; transitional relief fully exempts goods contracted before March 14, 2026 from the 50% over-quota duty during July 1 - September 30, 2026 (evidence required). Legal basis is the Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Act 2018 as amended, while the US-UK §232 special arrangement continues separately (UK steel/aluminum at 25%/15% in the US, conditional on UK melt-and-pour). Combined with the EU's same-day measure, over-quota costs in the EU and UK markets are now uniformly 50% for non-FTA exporters including China.
Verified 2026-10-08: §122 was 10% and expired 2026-07-24. Forced-labor §301 took effect 2026-07-24 at 10%–12.5%, with product exemptions and country-specific combined-rate rules.
Regulation (EU) 2026/1384, published in the Official Journal around June 26, 2026, replaces the 2018-era steel safeguard (expired June 30) with a permanent mechanism applicable from July 1, 2026. The annual duty-free tariff-rate quota is set at 18,345,922 tonnes — a 47% cut versus the 2024 quota level, benchmarked to a 13% import share of 2024 EU consumption — and the over-quota tariff doubles from 25% to 50%. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1457 (adopted June 29, OJ June 30, applying July 1 through December 31, 2026) allocates country-specific quotas across 26 product categories: roughly half the quota (~9.17M t) is reserved for FTA partners, countries with a ≥5% import share in 2022-2024 receive country-specific quotas, and the remainder runs MFN first-come-first-served. A melt-and-pour origin declaration obligation (Mill Test Certificate documentation) applies from July 1, 2026, and from October 1, 2027 that data feeds quota allocation — designed to block third-country transshipment circumvention aimed at Chinese overcapacity. The EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) is excluded from scope and Russia is excluded via the sanctions ban; otherwise the measure applies to all third countries including FTA partners, administered quarterly with within-year carryover but no cross-year carryover. For non-FTA exporters including China this is the tightest EU steel access regime since 2018.
The EU's tariff commitments under the August 21, 2025 'Joint Statement on Reciprocal, Fair and Balanced Trade' completed their legislative path: European Parliament/Council provisional agreement May 20, 2026, Council final adoption June 25, publication in the Official Journal June 30, application from July 1, 2026. The main regulation eliminates all EU tariffs on US industrial goods and grants TRQ/reduced-duty preferential access for certain US seafood and non-sensitive agricultural products — EU importers save roughly €5bn a year in duties — applying through December 31, 2029, with a built-in import-surge safeguard and a suspension mechanism if the US fails to honor its side. A second regulation, (EU) 2026/1461 (signed June 25), extends MFN zero duty on lobster including processed lobster (CN 1605 30 90) to July 31, 2030, with refunds retroactive to August 1, 2025. The US quid pro quo is a 15% tariff cap on most EU goods including autos, and zero or near-zero rates on aircraft, generics, and natural resources. In early May the US had threatened 25% on EU autos if the package was not ratified before July 4; with the July 1 application, the transatlantic tariff war formally de-escalates into an implementation phase.
China's MOFCOM moved from general endorsement to formal confirmation of the US-China Board of Trade. At the June 25 regular presser, MOFCOM said the two sides 'have agreed to establish a Board of Trade, under which cooperation such as reciprocal tariff reductions will be discussed'; working teams continue consultations on the tariff-reduction framework, and on Boeing aircraft and US agricultural purchases both sides will 'encourage and guide' enterprises to expand trade. At the July 2 presser, spokesperson He Yadong said both sides 'agreed in principle to include relevant agricultural products under the reciprocal tariff reduction framework,' with purchases based on 'actual demand and market conditions.' Per USTR docket commentary, the mechanism contours involve identifying up to roughly $30 billion of tariff relief each way on 'non-sensitive' goods (MFN or lower rates), with textiles reportedly excluded. Background commitments from the May 14-15 Beijing summit: 200 Boeing aircraft (option to 750) and $17 billion per year in agricultural purchases plus a 25 million metric ton soybean commitment (~$27 billion per year total). USTR comment docket USTR-2026-0430 closes July 10, with rebuttals due July 27. Talks appear to remain at working-team/videoconference level — no Chinese delegation visit to Washington was confirmed in the window.
MOFCOM Announcement No. 24 of 2026 (June 24) published the Working Measures for Industrial and Supply Chain Security Investigations — the implementing procedures under State Council Order No. 834 (effective May 1, 2026). The measures establish a §301-style investigative mechanism on the Chinese side, aimed at foreign countries, regions, or international organizations that impose discriminatory prohibitions or restrictions on Chinese supply chains, with legal basis in the National Security Law, Foreign Relations Law, Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, and Foreign Trade Law. Investigation tools include questioning, document seizure and copying, public solicitation of leads, questionnaires, technical evaluation, hearings, and on-site investigation; Chinese firms can petition MOFCOM in writing with evidence via a private-complaint channel. The outcome menu spans prohibiting or restricting imports/exports of goods, technology and services trade, a novel 'special fees' instrument, and Anti-Foreign-Sanctions-Law sanctions. As a companion enforcement signal, MOFCOM Announcement No. 26 (June 24, effective July 1) created a whistleblower reporting-and-reward mechanism for strategic-minerals export-control violations — unlicensed exports, disguising controlled items as components, third-country transshipment, and providing logistics, customs, e-commerce or financial services to unlawful exports. On June 18, the chairman of a major Chinese precision-optics company was placed under compulsory measures by Shanghai Customs for falsely declaring germanium-containing lenses as 'ordinary optical glass'.
MOFCOM Announcement No. 23 of 2026 (June 22, immediate effect) added 10 US entities to China's export control list: MP Materials Corp, USA Rare Earth, Aveox, Red Cat Holdings, Teal Drones, IMSAR, Jaia Robotics, Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Oshkosh Defense, and L3Harris Maritime Services. Chinese exporters are prohibited from exporting any dual-use items to them; overseas organizations and individuals anywhere are barred from transferring China-origin dual-use items to them; ongoing transactions must stop immediately, with case-by-case MOFCOM approval possible for 'genuine necessity'. It is the first-ever use of the export-control-list instrument against US rare-earth producers — MP Materials fell roughly 13% in June. Beijing framed the action as retaliation for the June 8 US expansion of the DoD 'Chinese Military Companies' (1260H) list. Same day, China's Ministry of Finance banned government procurement of products manufactured by 46 US defense-linked companies (Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Missiles & Defense, General Atomics, General Dynamics Land Systems, Boeing Defense, Anduril et al.), explicitly excluding products of US-invested enterprises in China — 56 US entities hit in a single day. Notably, both actions were decoupled from the §301 forced-labor track and tied to the 1260H list, preserving the Board of Trade channel; no new Unreliable Entity List additions in this round.
Round 2 of US-Mexico USMCA bilateral negotiations ran June 15-17, 2026 in Washington DC over three days — the round had previously been flagged as June 16-17, and Ebrard's delegation worked June 15-18 including side-meetings. A joint Greer-Ebrard statement marked the conclusion. Progress reported: advanced rules of origin for certain industrial goods plus 'economic security' (limiting China's benefits from USMCA access); conceptual discussions begun on agriculture, labor and environment; steel/aluminum/autos trade discussed; trade-remedy cases addressed, including new duties on Mexican tomatoes and the active strawberry investigation; and agreement to establish a committee reviewing USMCA Chapter 12 (Sectoral Annexes) for regulatory compatibility. The hardest fault line is the US seasonal-produce TRQ demand — Ebrard publicly stated Mexico will not accept seasonal restrictions and would source agricultural imports elsewhere. Greer: 'I think we probably will not resolve all the issues by July 1.' Round 3 is confirmed for the week of July 20, 2026 in Mexico City per Greer's July 1 statement; Greer and Ebrard also met separately on June 19.
On June 15, 2026 the US Supreme Court denied certiorari in HMTX Industries v. United States, leaving intact the Federal Circuit's September 25, 2025 ruling that upheld the §301 List 3 (~$200bn) and List 4A (~$120bn+) China tariffs imposed via USTR's §307 modification authority. The denial definitively ends the 8-year consolidated 'In re Section 301 Cases' refund litigation — no refunds for the thousands of plaintiff importers. List 3 duties at 25% and List 4A duties at 7.5% are now litigation-proof. The §307 modification authority — the same authority underpinning the pending 60-economy forced-labor and 16-economy excess-capacity §301 actions — carries appellate blessing.
Verified 2026-10-08: §122 was 10% and expired 2026-07-24. Forced-labor §301 took effect 2026-07-24 at 10%–12.5%, with product exemptions and country-specific combined-rate rules.
In early June 2026, USTR published a Federal Register notice seeking public comment on the scope and operation of the US-China Board of Trade — the new bilateral institution announced at the May 14-15 Beijing summit. The mechanism is intended to operationalize ongoing dialogue on balanced and reciprocal trade, including identification of non-sensitive goods that can deliver benefits for US farmers, ranchers, fishermen, small businesses, manufacturers, and workers. Public comment deadline: July 10, 2026. China's MOFCOM spokesperson He Yongqian publicly endorsed the Board of Trade as the preferred negotiation venue, contrasting it with the forced-labor §301 tariff action which MOFCOM opposes. The Board of Trade is the structural complement to the Board of Investment also established at the Beijing summit.
Proclamation 11032, 'Further Adjusting the Tariff Regimes for Imports of Aluminum, Steel, and Copper,' was signed June 1, 2026, with changes effective June 8, 2026 (the reduced tiers run through December 31, 2027). The §232 derivative rate on agricultural equipment — combines, harvesters and similar machinery — is cut from 25% to 15%. Residential-use HVAC systems and components are added to the temporarily-reduced 15% derivative category, and the 15% category is further expanded to mobile industrial equipment (bulldozers, forklifts) when imported from trade-deal countries. A new incentive tier sets a 10% duty rate for capital equipment with at least 85% US-melted-and-poured steel and aluminum content. Under the recalibrated regime, Japan and Korea §232 imports are effectively capped at a 15% total-duty outcome. Duties apply on the full customs value of the goods.
Correction of the earlier record: the Brazil §301 investigation was initiated on July 17, 2025 (FRN 2025-13498) — not in June 2026. What happened on June 1, 2026 was the determination plus proposed action (FRN 2026-11158, published June 4): USTR found Brazil's acts, policies, and practices on digital trade and electronic payments, preferential tariffs, anti-corruption, intellectual property, ethanol market access, and illegal deforestation to be actionable, and proposed an additional 25% ad valorem tariff on certain Brazilian goods — coverage per commentary includes footwear, apparel, and travel goods alongside traditional exports such as coffee, iron ore, wood, pulp, meat, sugar, and ethanol. In-window process: hearing-appearance requests were due June 22; public comments were due July 1, 2026; USTR confirmed a public hearing Monday July 6 through Tuesday July 7, 2026, 10:00 am ET at the USITC. The statutory deadline for responsive action is July 15, 2026 — one year from initiation — making this plausibly the first new §301 tariff to land in July.
Verified 2026-10-08: §122 was 10% and expired 2026-07-24. Forced-labor §301 took effect 2026-07-24 at 10%–12.5%, with product exemptions and country-specific combined-rate rules.
The first formal US-Mexico USMCA review round closed May 28-29 in Mexico City. Deputy USTR Jeffrey Gerrish led the US delegation (Greer did not personally attend); Marcelo Ebrard led for Mexico. Three core agenda blocks: automotive rules of origin, §232 steel/aluminum derivative boundary conditions, economic security — plus a scope expansion covering medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetic-products regulatory compatibility. Round 2 scheduled June 16-17 in Washington, adding agriculture and 'level playing field' topics. Round 3 set for the week of July 20 in Mexico City — placed four days before the §301 16-economy action target of July 24. Canada absent from this bilateral track.
Verified 2026-10-08: §122 was 10% and expired 2026-07-24. Forced-labor §301 took effect 2026-07-24 at 10%–12.5%, with product exemptions and country-specific combined-rate rules.
On April 20, 2026, USTR Jamieson Greer and Mexican Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard issued a joint statement directing teams to advance technical work on economic security, complementary trade actions, strengthened rules of origin for key industrial goods, and collaboration on critical minerals. President Sheinbaum publicly framed Mexico's objective: a specialized steel/aluminum/autos agreement before the trilateral review concludes. Ebrard described the negotiating posture as 'sector by sector,' targeting reduced extra-regional dependence — particularly the 85%+ Asian import share in semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and electronics. The first formal bilateral negotiating round is scheduled for the week of May 25, 2026 in Mexico City. USTR has signaled separately that existing US §232 / §301 / §122 tariffs on Mexico-origin goods stay in place during the negotiation window.
Verified 2026-10-08: §122 was 10% and expired 2026-07-24. Forced-labor §301 took effect 2026-07-24 at 10%–12.5%, with product exemptions and country-specific combined-rate rules.
European Commission publishes the first quarterly CBAM price on April 7: €75.36/tCO₂. Combined with the 2.5% 2026 adjustment factor, real cost per tonne of imported steel is approximately €3.77. Q2/Q3/Q4 prices scheduled for July 6, October 5, January 4 2027.
Verified 2026-10-08. The earlier article incorrectly assigned Ireland a uniform 100% duty. That claim and the relocation, investment and consumer-price conclusions built on it are withdrawn. Unverified trade figures, market moves and company outcomes have been removed.
The April 2 proclamation covers patented pharmaceuticals and associated ingredients listed in Annex I. Clause 3(a) sets a default 100% rate. Clause 3(c) gives the EU, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and Liechtenstein a 15% country tier unless a lower clause 3 rate applies. Ireland is in the EU; the proclamation therefore does not support a blanket 100% rate for Irish products. Ireland and Switzerland belong to the same country tier.
April 2 proclamation raises Annex I-A primary metals to 50% ad valorem, Annex I-B derivatives to 25% on full customs value (no more metal-content split). UK origin qualifies for 25%/15% tiers with 95% melt-and-pour rule. Products with ≤15% metal content fully exempt. Quarterly inclusion process terminated.
On March 31, 2026, China's State Council promulgated Order No. 834 — the Provisions on the Security of Industrial and Supply Chains — the PRC's first dedicated framework regulation for industrial and supply-chain security. The order, jointly enforced by MOFCOM and MIIT, provides the legal basis for sanctioning foreign companies, applies a 50% Rule for products incorporating controlled components, and embeds extraterritorial jurisdiction under the October 2025 export-control framework (extraterritorial enforcement deferred until November 2026). Effective May 1, 2026. The order serves as China's structural response to US trade-tool escalation through 2026 — paralleling §301 / §232 / IEEPA on the PRC retaliatory side.
On March 18, 2026, USTR Jamieson Greer met Mexico's Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard in Washington to formally open bilateral USMCA review discussions, ahead of the July 1, 2026 first joint review. The published agenda: increasing US and Mexican production, limiting non-market inputs into North American supply chains, and identifying gaps in key supply chains. Canada was not included in this bilateral track — the meeting reads as a US-MX positioning channel rather than a trilateral preparatory.
Effective January 1, 2026, China's updated Import-Export Licensing Catalogue added samarium, gadolinium, and lutetium compounds — plus silver — to the rare-earth and strategic-materials export licensing list. Mechanism is licensing, not embargo — buyers can still source these materials, but only through suppliers holding valid MOFCOM export licenses. Administered jointly by MOFCOM and MIIT. The expansion follows the October 2025 framework that introduced extraterritorial jurisdiction and the '50% Rule' for products containing controlled components (extraterritorial enforcement delayed until November 2026). Previously controlled rare earths include yttrium, scandium, neodymium, indium, dysprosium, gallium, and germanium.
Mexican Senate approves the General Import and Export Tax Law amendment on December 10 2025; effective January 1 2026. Tariff coverage expands from the 155 textile lines of December 2024 to 1,463 lines across steel, aluminum, autos, footwear, appliances, plastics, toys, glass. Top rates: autos 50%, footwear 35%, steel/aluminum 25%.
The temporary textile tariffs (15-35% on 155 HS lines in Chapters 61, 62) introduced by the December 19 2024 decree expired on April 23 2026 as scheduled. Most affected lines now fall under the December 2025 legislative package that entered force January 1 2026 — so apparel rates remain elevated, just on a different legal basis. The IMMEX prohibition on HS Chapters 61, 62, 63 (plus subheadings 9404.40, 9404.90) is a permanent amendment to the IMMEX Decree and is NOT subject to sunset.
Sheinbaum's first decree, published in the DOF evening edition: 155 HS lines of textiles and apparel hit with 15-35% duties (effective Dec 20 2024 through April 23 2026). Simultaneous IMMEX amendment: HS Chapters 61, 62, 63 plus subheadings 9404.40 and 9404.90 prohibited from IMMEX — 302 tariff items moved from Annex II-C to Annex I.
From March 31 2026 every importer of CBAM-covered goods into the EU must hold Authorized CBAM Declarant status. Each shipment requires verified facility-level embedded-emissions data. Non-compliant shipments face entry rejection.