Key Takeaways:
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Friday that Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods will remain in place following a summit between President Trump and President Xi in Beijing, even as he expects China to commit to billions in new US farm purchases.
"I haven't yet met a country where we've imposed tariffs and said, ‘thank you—we love these tariffs,’" Greer told Annmarie Hordern on May 15. He added that the tariffs, however unpopular with other nations, "are here to stay."
The decision to maintain the tariffs comes as the administration's other trade weapons have been disarmed by US courts. The Supreme Court recently ruled emergency tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were illegal, and the US Court of International Trade invalidated a subsequent 10 percent tariff under Section 122. This has pushed the administration to rely on Section 301, with the USTR currently considering 76 new cases against various trading partners.
The continued reliance on tariffs shows a broad US strategy to counter Chinese trade practices, which Washington says are unfair. While the policy aims to protect US industries, it creates significant uncertainty for companies like electric vehicle maker Faraday Future (FFAI), which cited tariff risks in its recent earnings, and maintains pressure on global supply chains.
The administration's pivot to Section 301 is a direct consequence of legal defeats on other fronts. According to international trade lawyer Liz Levinson, who sued the federal government over the IEEPA duties, the courts found the president could not levy taxes or import duties under that statute. A separate attempt to impose a blanket 10 percent tariff under Section 122 was also ruled illegal because the administration "didn't want to do the homework" to prove a balance-of-payment problem, Levinson said. This leaves Section 301 as the primary tool for applying pressure, not just on China, but on 60 of America's trading partners currently under investigation.
The use of trade measures extends beyond pure economics, connecting directly to US human rights policy. The administration is using the threat of tariffs to enforce the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which is meant to stop goods made with forced labor in Xinjiang from entering the US.
According to research from Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, China's system of state-imposed labor is larger than ever, with more than three million labor transfers recorded in 2025. He notes that despite a ban on its products, Chinese silicon giant Hoshine Silicon Industry saw its sales volume more than double from 530,000 metric tons in 2021 to over 1.2 million tons in 2024, with most of it still sourced from Xinjiang. This has led to calls for the USTR to use its Section 301 investigation to close enforcement gaps that allow sanctioned materials to enter the US market through third countries.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
