U.S. Trade Policy and Tariff Actions
- Trump Administration intends to appeal universal IEEPA refund order for liquidated entries: The Department of Justice is expected to file an appeal, as early as the week of 1 June, in response to the to the Court of International Trade (CIT) ruling requiring a universal refund of IEEPA tariffs claiming that the CIT cannot require repayment of duties that have reached final liquidation unless the importer of record has sued to recover money. While the appeal has not yet been filed, it is not expected to impact entries which are within scope of CBPs Phase 1 IEEPA refund process. This includes:
- Unliquidated entries
- Entries within 80 days of liquidation
- entries with liquidation statuses of suspended, extended, or under review, and
- warehouse and withdrawal entries
Please note this is a developing story and we will continue to monitor for the publication of official appeal to better understand impact.
- USTR to seek public comment on Chinese goods eligible for tariff cuts under U.S.-China Board of Trade: On 26 May, USTR Greer confirmed that a Federal Register notice will be issued shortly seeking public comment on which Chinese goods should be eligible for lower tariffs under the joint U.S.-China Board of Trade mechanism agreed at the May 14-15 Trump-Xi summit. The U.S.-China Board of Trade will initially determine approximately $30 billion of non-strategic goods, the scope which is not yet known, on which the two countries can lower or eliminate tariffs.
- Ambassador Greer signals Section 122 tariff could be re-imposed after July expiry: On 26 May, Ambassador Greer indicated that the Section 122 10% global tariff could potentially be re-imposed after the original tariff action expires on 24 July. Greer argued that while Section 122 is clear that tariffs can last up to 150 days, the statute does not clarify when tariffs can be re-imposed. As such, the Administration may have the authority to re-impose global tariffs once they expire. Please note that regardless of whether the Administration can or cannot reimpose global Section 122 tariffs, the President Trump is expected to implement tariffs at similar levels to those under IEEPA upon the conclusion of the ongoing Section 301 investigations into structural excess capacity and forced labor.
- First official USMCA joint negotiating round begins without Canada: On 27-29 May, Deputy USTR Jeffrey Goettman led the first formal bilateral negotiating round with Mexico, focused on economic security and rules of origin for key industrial goods. No date has been set for formal U.S.-Canada bilateral talks. Ambassador Greer indicated that tighter rules of origin aimed at increasing U.S. content in USMCA qualifying industrial goods will be a central U.S. demand. If these changes are implemented, industrial goods (which may include food processing and packaging machinery) would need to be manufactured with more U.S. inputs to qualify for preferential market access under USMCA.
Trade Policy Actions by Other Countries
- Japan launches anti-dumping probe into steel imports from China, South Korea, and Taiwan: On 1 June, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Ministry of Finance announced a new anti-dumping investigation into imports of hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil, strip, and sheet from China, South Korea, and Taiwan. The action follows a separate Japanese anti-dumping investigation into stainless steel imports from China and Taiwan launched in July 2025. While the direct impact on food processing and packaging machinery of 8422 and 8438 is limited, any resulting tariff action could impact machinery manufacturers in Japan that source certain steel inputs within scope of the anti-dumping investigation.
