United States Will Review Tariffs On China, Threatens New Penalties On EU

While U.S. courts consider the fate of other Section 122 tariffs, the Trump administration is making trade moves elsewhere. Specifically, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has launched a review of Section 301 tariffs on China imports that were implemented during the first Trump administration and expanded during the Biden administration. The tariffs cover $32 billion in imports across more than 500 tariff subheadings.

In a Federal Register notice, the USTR asked domestic industries that may benefit from the levies to submit requests to continue the penalties. The USTR will hold public hearings starting on May 5 and continuing through May 8, 2026, regarding the investigations.

At the same time, President Donald Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on automobiles and auto parts from the European Union (EU) because, as he argued, the 27-country bloc is not living up to its end of a trade agreement struck last summer. On social media on May 1, the president said the tariff rate would increase to 25 percent and would go into effect “next week.” A week later, President Trump appeared to extend that deadline, announcing on May 7 in social media post that goods from the EU would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year’s trade framework by July 4. (Read more about the latest announcement in The Associated Press.)

Meanwhile, as Bloomberg reported, officials from the EU’s largest economies have expressed displeasure with a U.S. proposal to resolve a dispute about Section 232 metals tariffs, “injecting fresh uncertainty into final negotiations to implement a stalled trade deal.” Specifically, officials from Germany and France have said the U.S. proposal would make the tariff situation worse for roughly half of the affected products. (Read about the U.S. proposal at this link.) Despite the displeasure, the EU and U.S. government have agreed to continue technical discussions on the matter, with the EU considering taking further measures if the situation remains unresolved.