The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published a request for comments on 14 September 2026 for the 2027 National Trade Estimate report, docket USTR-2026-0498, closing on 29 October 20261. The notice names the European Union among its export markets and invites comment on barriers to cross-border data flows and other restrictive technology requirements. The National Trade Estimate is Washington's annual catalogue of foreign practices American exporters object to, and US industry associations have used those categories before to nominate the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the Digital Services Act and the AI Act.
USTR opens this window every year, so reading it as an escalation would mistake routine machinery for a new front. It builds a record instead. Comments not used in the 2027 report are retained, in USTR's own wording, for potential use in future discussions or negotiations with trading partners. A submission filed in October therefore stays available to a negotiator who has not been appointed yet.
Donald Trump ordered an investigation into EU digital rules on 24 July under Section 301, the US trade law authorising unilateral tariffs. This topic traced that order through the Federal Register in early August and found no docket number, no notice and no comment period on the public record. September's request carries all three, which makes the routine instrument the one currently open to European respondents and the extraordinary one still invisible.
Three days separated the fortnight's two filings. Brussels wrote a new duty for anyone selling software into the single market; Washington opened the ledger where its own industry writes down which European duties it objects to.
