The May 14-15 Trump-Xi summit in Beijing concluded with vague commitments on Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural goods, no firm deal on rare earths or Iran, and no announced tariff changes — Trump told reporters that tariffs "didn't even come up" (CNN). Markets reacted with disappointment; soybean futures sold off after the agricultural commitments echoed past promises that were not followed through. The Nomura-estimated average tariff on Chinese imports remains approximately 22%, well above pre-trade-war levels and above rates applied to the rest of the world (CNBC, New York Times).

For compliance teams, the operative read is simple: no Federal Register proclamation or USTR notice has changed the numbers, so current published rates remain in force on all Chinese-origin entries. Wishful pricing on any anticipated cuts is a liability. The more actionable news this week is what did publish — today's Federal Register carries a substantial AD/CVD enforcement docket worth your attention.

What Changed This Period

United States — schedule and refunds. No HTS schedule changes have been published since the last issue. On the refunds front, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has finalized tariff refunds — including interest — totaling $35.46 billion as of May 11, covering IEEPA duties invalidated by the Supreme Court in February (Reuters; CBP court filing). Total IEEPA collections eligible for refund are approximately $166 billion, so this round represents about 21% of the universe. If you filed for refunds and haven't seen resolution, CBP's pace through CAPE suggests processing is active.

Separately, CBP published FR 2026-09871 (May 18) updating the quarterly IRS interest rates used to calculate interest on overdue accounts and refunds of customs duties — relevant if you have open underpayment or overpayment positions.

Today's AD/CVD docket. Today's Federal Register carries a substantial cluster of antidumping and countervailing duty actions:

European Union. Trump has threatened to raise auto tariffs from 15% to 25% if a trade deal is not reached by July 4, while EU negotiators report progress on key clauses including a suspension mechanism tied to import surges (Grant Thornton, Euronews, Politico).

Canada. No tariff schedule changes since the last issue. As noted in the AD/CVD docket above, the fresh mushrooms CVD preliminary determination (FR 2026-09910) targets Canadian producers — if you import Canadian fresh mushrooms, provisional measures may follow.

Mexico. No tariff schedule changes since the last issue.

One Practical Action

The Trump-Xi summit has created exactly the kind of "announced but unpublished" tariff environment where misclassification risk spikes. This week, pull every open China-origin entry in your system where the duty rate is sourced from a Chapter 99 overlay tied to Section 301 List actions. Confirm that each rate reflects the most recently published Federal Register proclamation — not a news report or broker note. Until Commerce or USTR publishes revised rates, the 22% average composite burden is your operative compliance baseline. Set a FR alert for any USTR or Presidential Proclamation document affecting HTS Chapter 99 subheadings covering Chinese goods so you can act the same day a change is official rather than the week after.

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