The New US Section 301 and 232 Tariff Actions: A Briefing Pack

The United States has proposed two new Section 301 tariffs: a forced-labour duty reaching sixty economies, and a separate 25% duty on Brazil. Alongside these, it has modified its Section 232 metals regime. We have published five analyses and explainers unpacking what these actions cover, whom they hit, and where the burden lands.

Query these tariff actions directly via the Global Trade Alert MCP. Our MCP server lets your AI assistant ask about any Section 232 or Section 301 action and returns a cited answer drawn from our database. The underlying figures are adjustable so you can re-run the estimates yourself. Setup takes under five minutes. Start here.

What the forced-labour proposal actually does. USTR wrapped up its investigation on 2 June and proposed two tariff tiers, 10% for fourteen economies and 12.5% for the other forty-six. Our explainer sets out the tiers, the Annex A exemptions, the new textile mechanism, and the full timeline. Access the explainer here.

The new Section 301s would hold the average tariff near today’s level. As the temporary Section 122 surcharge lapses on 24 July, the forced-labour duty would step into its place. The trade-weighted average US tariff moves from 11.2% today to 11.0%, or 11.1% with the Brazil action added, because the duty reaches sixty economies rather than all imports and overlaps with tariffs already in force. Beneath the steady average, the burden reallocates: France eases from 10.8% to 8.3%, while Vietnam and India edge up. Read the analysis here.

The Brazil Section 301, sized. On 1 June, USTR proposed a separate 25% duty on Brazil. Carve-outs for crude oil, coffee, and goods already under Section 232 exempt two-thirds of Brazil's US exports, so the headline 25% scales to an effective rate near 15%. Even stacked with the forced-labour action, Brazil stays below the 25.4% it faced before the SCOTUS ruling. Access the data here.

Section 232 metals: origin matters now. A proclamation of 1 June, effective from 8 June, moves mobile industrial equipment into a new origin-dependent annex: 25% in general, 15% for thirty-seven framework economies, 10% for US-metal goods. Across the roughly $58 billion concerned, annual duty falls by $3.4 billion, and the average tariff moves from 10.83% to 10.72%. Read the analysis here.

The exemption annexes are nearly identical. The three post-SCOTUS actions draw on near-identical exemption lists, holding 1,644 of their combined 1,698 product lines in common, worth $1.40 trillion or 43% of US imports. The differences narrow to two groups: goods specific to Brazil's export profile, and a small consumer-food group. See the comparison here.

Defining the US-China Board of Trade. On 2 June, USTR invited public comment on the scope and operation of a new bilateral body agreed at the 17 May Beijing summit. The Board would manage bilateral trade across non-sensitive goods to promote balance and reciprocity. The notice asks which goods qualify as non-sensitive, where tariff inversions exist, and how the Board should be governed. See the state act here.

You can also find the measures, including the official sources, documented in the GTA database:

• USTR Section 301 findings on forced labour

• USTR initiation of a Section 301 investigation of Brazil

• U.S. Administration modifies Section 232 tariffs on aluminium, steel, and copper imports

Source: Global Trade Alert