USTR Releases The President's 2026 Trade Policy Agenda

On March 2, 2026, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) delivered President Trump's 2026 Trade Policy Agenda and the 2025 Annual Report to Congress (Report). The trade policy agenda, which must be submitted to Congress every year under the Trade Act of 1974, outlines the Trump Administration's priorities and strategies for U.S. trade policy as well as for conducting trade negotiations with other nations. The 2026 agenda underscores a continued commitment to the America First Trade Policy and highlights both areas where the Administration has claimed achievements to date and specific six key areas of focus for the upcoming year as follows:

Continuing Trade Negotiations: The Report states that the United States will continue to seek reductions in foreign tariffs and non-tariff barriers through the deals made as part of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) program. The United States will also seek to transform the Administration's framework trade agreements with Ecuador, the European Union, India, Japan, North Macedonia, South Korea, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Thailand, and Vietnam into concrete agreements under ART or into equivalent arrangements.

Enforcing Trade Agreements and Trade Laws: The Trump Administration intends to continue to monitor the implementation of deals made as part of President Trump's trade negotiations and will evaluate whether new Section 301 actions or other enforcement mechanisms are warranted, particularly with regard to trade frictions arising from global overcapacity, abusive practices in seafood and fishing, unfair agricultural policies, pharmaceutical pricing, and digital services taxes and policies. The United States will continue its work on existing Section 301 measures, including investigating China's compliance with the Phase One Agreement reached during President Trump's first term and China's problematic trade practices in shipbuilding and semiconductors. This year, USTR will also commence its statutorily required four-year review of its Section 301 proceeding on China's forced technology transfer and will consider whether to take action in the Section 301 investigation concerning enforcing U.S. results in the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute with the European Union involving large civil aircraft.

Pursing Supply Chain Resilience: The Report identifies several sectors as priorities for reshoring the U.S. industrial base and increasing trade diversification, including pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, metals and their downstream products, energy inputs and technologies, semiconductors and semiconductor equipment, automotive parts and finished vehicles, and critical mineral production and refining.

For critical minerals, the Report states that the United States will negotiate a plurilateral Agreement on Trade in Critical Minerals to establish a border adjusted price mechanism for specific minerals and downstream products. This Agreement will also include provisions on labor rights, environmental standards, export controls, stockpiling, and economic competitiveness.

Addressing Challenges with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA): The Report identifies several issues that the Administration will focus on addressing during the USMCA's joint review scheduled to begin in July, including:

• the United States' trade deficit with Canada and Mexico;
• Mexican preferential measures for national champions in the energy and mining sector;
• the Mexican investment climate;
• Mexican labor laws;
• Canadian dairy market access;
• Canadian digital measures, including the Online Streaming Act;
• foreign investment in in Canada and Mexico by non-market economies; and
• rules of origin, including measures against transshipment and offshoring.

Engaging with China on Trade: The Report highlights the October 2025 one-year trade deal between President Trump and President Xi Jinping as a first step in better managing bilateral trade between the two countries, and that the United States is continuing to monitor China's compliance with the deal.

Advancing a New Global Trading System: The United States will continue to lead at international economic institutions, while focusing attention on issues that undermine U.S. competitiveness such as industrial overcapacity, economic imbalances, forced labor, and the weaponization of agriculture trade. At the upcoming fourteenth WTO ministerial meeting, the United States intends to seek modest outcomes such as a permanent extension of the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions. The Administration states that it will continue to urge the WTO to reorient toward plurilateral agreements, and that it will encourage a reassessment of the Most Favored Nation principle so that governments around the world will be able to differentiate among trading partners more effectively.

Takeaway: The 2026 Trade Policy Agenda closely mirrors the priorities of the 2025 Trade Policy Agenda and reinforces the principles of the Administration's America First Trade Policy. Companies – whether in the United States or abroad – should be prepared for ongoing efforts by the Trump Administration to reduce the U.S. trade deficit, achieve more balanced trade with trading partners, and reshore critical industries through trade agreements, enforcement measures, and industrial policy levers.

Our National Security, International Trade, Export Controls and Economic Sanctions, and Strategic Competition & Supply Chain teams have unparalleled experience and expertise representing a broad range of U.S. and multinational clients in complex export control, sanctions, international trade, and supply chain matters. For more information on this agreement and any other national security, trade, or supply chain issues, please contact any of the attorneys listed on this alert.

Zachary Roten, an International Trade Specialist at Wiley Rein LLP, contributed to this alert.