USTR's forced labor determination -- filed simultaneously against 60 economies under Section 301 (a broad statutory trade authority with no rate cap or expiration date) for failures to enforce prohibitions on forced labor -- places Vietnam in the 12.5% additional tariff tier, the highest rate in the group. Public comments close July 6 (docket USTR-2026-0265); hearings are July 7. Most exposed sectors: textiles, apparel, electronics, and solar manufacturing. These tariffs are proposed, not yet in effect.

Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 (a temporary presidential import surcharge authority, capped at 15% for 150 days) expires July 24 by statute. The administration will not seek renewal; the confirmed successor is Section 301, which carries no rate cap and no expiration.

Commerce issued final results in the 2023-2024 administrative review of US anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese raw honey: Ban Me Thuot Honeybee Joint Stock Company (BMT) at 26.77%; DakLak Honeybee Joint Stock Company (DakHoney) at 8.83%; 10 non-examined separate-rate companies at 17.80%; Vietnam-wide entity at 60.03%. FR Doc 2026-11866.

Vietnam's seafood exports reached $4.67 billion through May, up 11% year on year, with VASEP (Vietnam's seafood exporters' association) raising its full-year forecast toward $12 billion. China displaced the US as the largest buyer in Q1 2026 at 28.5% of total export value. Coffee exports ran 922,000 tonnes through May -- up 8% by volume, down 13.5% by value. Data in Market Signals and Deep Dive.

Section 122 to Section 301: From temporary surcharge to permanent authority

Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 -- the temporary import surcharge authority capped at 15% for 150 days that replaced the struck-down IEEPA tariffs -- reaches its statutory limit July 24. The administration has no mechanism to extend it and has not attempted to; Section 122 was designed to be temporary. The replacement is Section 301, confirmed in USTR's own communications and embedded in the design of the forced labor and excess capacity investigations, both timed to produce determinations before July 24. Section 122 has a statutory rate cap and a statutory time limit. Section 301 has neither.

What Vietnam's 12.5% placement means

USTR's June 2 forced labor determination scored 60 economies on the adequacy of their legal frameworks and enforcement records on forced labor. Vietnam came out at 12.5% additional duties -- the highest tier in the group. Countries scored at 10% include India and Bangladesh; others fall lower. Vietnam's 12.5% placement reflects USTR's current assessment of Vietnamese enforcement specifically, not just bilateral diplomatic standing.

That score is provisional; the public comment period runs through July 6 (docket USTR-2026-0265), with hearings July 7 (docket USTR-2026-0266). In Section 301 proceedings, final rates can differ from proposed rates -- USTR has discretion, and what gets submitted between now and July 7 is the evidentiary record that discretion will be applied to. Vietnamese industry associations, their US trading partners, and US importers of Vietnamese goods are all eligible to file.

Three tariff programs, one shipment

Take a Vietnamese shrimp exporter currently subject to the AR20 separate rate: 7.56% in anti-dumping duties on US imports, established in Commerce's May 13 preliminary determination (Federal Register 2026-09465). US buyers of that shrimp also pay the 20% base rate under the US-Vietnam Framework Agreement -- a political commitment, not a binding treaty, and one that sets no limit on what Section 301 can impose on top. If the 12.5% forced labor tariff becomes final after USTR's determination following the July 7 hearing, the total US import duty burden on a container from that exporter approaches 40%. These three charges come from separate legal programs -- anti-dumping, the framework agreement, and Section 301 -- and they apply independently; no part of any one of them creates a ceiling on what the others can add.