U.S. Trade Policy and Tariff Actions
- US announces Section 338 tariffs of 50% on select Canadian imports effective 19 August: On 20 July, the Trump Administration announced a series of tariffs which target Canadian products as outlined in the various annexes whether or not they are USMCA-compliant. Products subject to Section 232 are excluded from the tariff action.
- Most packaging and processing machinery of 8422 and 8438 are not targeted, except for the below machinery which are listed in the annex related to proclamation on discrimination against US motor vehicles:
- 8422.3091: Machinery for filling, closing, sealing, capsuling or labeling bottles, cans, boxes or other containers; machinery for aerating beverages; nesoi
- 8422.4091: Packing or wrapping machinery, nesoi
- 8422.9091: Parts of packing or wrapping machinery, nesoi
- 8438.40: Brewery machinery, nesoi
- There are other HS codes for machinery other than of 8422 and 8438 included in scope of the Section 338 Canada tariff action and of which may be of interest to PMMI members. Please see links to tariff action below:
- USTR Imposes Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs effective 24 July: On 23 July, USTR published the pre-publication version of the Federal Register Notice (FRN), and the corresponding Fact Sheet, officially implementing tariffs of 10% or 12.5% to be imposed on 60 U.S. trading partners who failed to implement a ban on goods produced with forced labor per the Section 301 investigation. Tariffs will go into effect at 12:01 AM on 24 July 2026 as detailed in the published CBP CSMS guidance. The rates for countries targeted in this tariff action are:
- Additional 10% tariff on imports from 17 countries: Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the UK, Trinidad and Tobago
- USMCA-compliant goods from Canada or Mexico are exempt from the 10% tariff
- Tariff rate of 10% or 12.5%, net of MFN rate on imports from the following markets:
- EU and Taiwan:
- Imports with MFN <10%: 10% tariff rate to be applied on imports into the US is a tariff ceiling inclusive of MFN duties applied and Section 301 tariff.
- Imports with MFN >10%: Section 301 Forced Labor tariff rate of 0%.
- Japan, Korea, and Switzerland:
- Imports with MFN <12.5%: 12.5% tariff rate to be applied on imports into the US is a tariff ceiling inclusive of MFN duties applied and Section 301 tariff.
- Imports with MFN >12.5%: Section 301 Forced Labor tariff rate of 0%.
- Additional 12.5% tariff on imports from the remaining 38 countries noted below.
- Algeria, Angola, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Guyana, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel , Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam
- USTR Imposes Section 301 Brazil Tariffs effective 22 July: On 15 July, USTR published its final determination in the Section 301 investigation into Brazil’s Unreasonable Acts, Policies, and Practices. The FRN implements a 25% Section 301 tariff on imports from Brazil starting 22 July. While there are certain exemptions, none of the exemptions apply to food processing and packaging machinery of 8422 or 8438.
