On March 2, 2026, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) delivered President Donald Trump’s 2026 Trade Policy Agenda and 2025 Annual Report to Congress. This year’s trade agenda seeks to promote U.S. interests abroad and reduce trade deficits by pursuing trade deals with other countries and strengthening domestic manufacturing.
2025 Annual Report
The 2025 Annual Report provides a comprehensive overview of U.S. trade agreements, negotiations, and enforcement activities. It covers various trade initiatives, preference programs, and bilateral and multilateral engagements involving the United States and numerous countries. Specifically, the USTR was actively involved in various trade agreements and negotiations, including (1) the United States–Argentina Agreement on Reciprocal Trade and Investment, (2) the Dominican Republic–Central America–United States Free Trade Agreement, (3) the United States–Chile Free Trade Agreement, and (4) the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), among others. The USTR was also involved in various trade enforcement activities, including Section 301 and Section 201 investigations, as well as monitoring and enforcement of trade agreements.
2026 Trade Policy Agenda
The agenda outlines President Trump’s vision for addressing the economic and national security challenges facing the United States, emphasizing the U.S. trade deficit, and drives home the economic effects of the Trump administration’s “America First” trade policy.
The Trump administration’s trade policy in 2026 seeks to focus on six key areas:
- Continue the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) Program;
- Pursue Robust Enforcement of ARTs, Other Trade Agreements, and U.S. Trade Laws;
- Secure Supply Chains for Critical Minerals and Sectors;
- Conduct the Review of the USMCA;
- Manage Trade with China for Reciprocity and Balance; and
- Promote American Interests in International Fora.
Since the implementation of President Trump’s trade policy in April 2025, the agenda notes that the U.S. goods trade deficit declined on a year-over-year basis each month through December 2025. Further, the largest driver of overall trade deficit in goods—the U.S. trade deficit with China—was down 32%, year-over-year, in 2025. The agenda emphasizes how, for the first time since 2000, China is no longer the trading partner with which the United States has its largest trade deficit.
World Trade Organization
The USTR’s Annual Report also includes a section on the World Trade Organization (WTO) and efforts to reform the WTO daily at various WTO Standing Committees and their subsidiary bodies, WTO negotiating groups, and plurilateral activities. In December 2025, the United States circulated a communication on WTO reform to the General Council to:
- express U.S. views on the three issues pursued by the Reform Facilitator (decision making, special and differential treatment, and level playing field);
- clarify that a reform agenda at the WTO must address more than just those three issues, to include concerns regarding the Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) principle, the role of the Secretariat, and application of the essential security exception; and
- explain the U.S. view that the WTO is unable to address certain systemic problems, such as imbalances, overcapacity, economic security, and supply chain resilience.
This section of the report emphasizes that the WTO, which operates through more than 20 standing committees, enables its members to meet regularly to exchange views, monitor and resolve questions about members’ compliance with commitments, and develop initiatives aimed at systemic improvements. These groups also serve to promote transparency in WTO members’ trade policies. Through discussions in these groups, members can pursue detailed information on individual members’ trade policy actions and collectively consider their impact on individual members and the trading system as a whole. The discussions enable members in their domestic policy making to assess and potentially address concerns raised by other WTO members.
In sum, the discussion on the WTO reflects the Trump administration’s approach to taking advantage of opportunities in standing committees to consider ways to improve implementation of existing WTO provisions and to discuss areas where future rules could be developed. The Trump administration has demonstrated that it aims to create a new global trading environment by focusing on promoting carve-out trade deals and advocating for meaningful reforms within the WTO. Through such efforts, the Trump administration seeks to support U.S. workers, the middle class, businesses, and industries, and ultimately enhance U.S. economic interests, ensure fair trade practices, and promote national security.
A press release outlining other key highlights of the report is available here. For an overview of the most recent past Annual Trade Policy Agenda and Annual Report, see Thompson Hine Update of March 11, 2025.