US China Trade Monthly - July 2026

The latest developments in China trade policy underscore a familiar but increasingly difficult reality for multinational companies: compliance risk is no longer confined to tariffs, export controls, or customs enforcement in isolation. Instead, companies operating across the United States, China, and third-country markets are being asked to navigate overlapping—and at times directly conflicting—regulatory regimes, industrial policy priorities, and enforcement expectations.

This issue brings together several recent developments that reflect that broader shift. China’s three recent regulations point to a more assertive regulatory posture designed to protect Chinese companies and respond to perceived foreign trade discriminations. In so doing, they create potential conflict-of-laws risks for multinational companies. On the US side, the latest Section 301 activity and the Trump Administration’s new customs enforcement strategy signal a renewed emphasis on import compliance, forced labor enforcement, and supply-chain accountability.

Taken together, these developments show that US and China-related trade compliance is becoming more strategic, more political, and more operationally demanding. Businesses must assess not only whether a particular transaction complies with applicable law, but also how sourcing decisions, investment structures, customs practices, and internal controls may be viewed by multiple governments pursuing increasingly divergent objectives.

We hope this issue provides a useful guide to the key legal and policy developments shaping China trade today, and to the practical steps companies should consider as they prepare for closer scrutiny on both sides of the Pacific.