USTR Proposes Section 301 Tariffs on Brazil
On June 1, 2026, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) proposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (“Section 301”) to impose tariffs on imports of goods from Brazil due to Brazil’s practices involving digital trade and electronic payment services, unfair and preferential tariffs, anti-corruption enforcement, intellectual property protection, ethanol market access, and illegal deforestation.
On June 2, 2026, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) proposed tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (“Section 301”) on imports from 60 countries for their failure to enforce prohibitions related to forced labor. The USTR found that these failures are unreasonable and burden U.S. commerce. The proposed tariffs range from 10% to 12.5%, though they do contain several carveouts.
On May 29, 2026, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced it initiated an investigation of Vietnam under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (“Section 301”) regarding the country’s intellectual property protection and enforcement.
The USTR had identified Vietnam as a “Priority Foreign Country” in its April 30, 2026 Special 301 Report
On March 12, 2026, United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) Greer announced a new investigation under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 relating to the “failure to impose and effectively enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce.” According to
U.S. Launches Section 301 Investigation into China’s Phase One Trade Agreement Compliance
On October 24, 2025, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the launch of a Section 301 investigation into China’s implementation of its commitments under the phase one trade agreement, which was singed on January 15, 2020, in response to the U.S. imposing up to 25% in Section 301 duties.
USTR Imposes 100% Tariffs on Ship-to-Shore Cranes Under Section 301
Effective November 9, 2025, the United States will impose additional duties of 100% on certain ship-to-shore (“STS”) cranes and certain cargo handling equipment from China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. These tariffs follow the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”)’s original proposal in April 2025.
On April 17, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a new Executive Order (“EO”) building upon a previous EO, Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth, which was issued by his prior administration on May 7, 2020. The new EO directs the Secretary of Commerce, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”), and the Interagency Seafood
This blog post covers the most important developments in the trade sphere for the week of March 17-21, 2025.
State Department Determines All Agency Actions on International Trade are “Foreign Affairs Functions” of the U.S. Government
On March 13, 2025, the State Department published a notice in the Federal Register designating all agency action with
On Tuesday, the U.S. government began investigating China’s dominance in the shipbuilding industry. The House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces is holding a hearing on U.S. shipbuilding, with a public hearing by the Office of the United States Trade Representative scheduled for March 24.
In addition to the service fee imposed on port
This blog post covers trade developments occurring during the sixth week of the new Trump Administration. It covers events occurring through 12:00 pm Eastern time on Friday, February 28.
Import-Related Developments
Potential Retaliation for Global Digital Services Taxes
After we published our Week Five in Trade post last week concerning additional sector-specific import tariffs