The U.S. is launching investigations into whether more than a dozen countries, as well as the European Union, are employing unfair practices in their trade with the U.S. \u2014 a precursor step to imposing tariffs.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
The U.S. is launching investigations into whether more than a dozen countries as well as the European Union are employing unfair practices in their trade with the U.S. \u2013 a precursor step to imposing tariffs
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The move comes just less than three weeks after the\u00a0Supreme Court struck down other import duties\u00a0President Donald Trump had imposed on most countries around the globe, which had brought in\u00a0an estimated $175 billion\u00a0since 2025.
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U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the new probes Wednesday
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The countries under investigation are China, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan and India \u2013 in addition to the European Union<\/p>\n
The move comes less than three weeks after the Supreme Court struck down other import duties<\/a> President Donald Trump had imposed on most countries around the globe, which had brought in an estimated $175 billion<\/a> since 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a news conference after that ruling, the president announced he would levy fresh duties through other statutes, including a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974<\/a>. Trump later said he would up the rate to 15% \u2014 the maximum allowed under the law, which requires congressional approval to leave the tariff in place longer than 150 days. No timeline has been announced for when this increase might take place.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n The president has also said his administration would seek to impose additional import taxes on specific goods through another existing law<\/a>\u00a0and initiate investigations into other countries under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cIt’s a little bit longer process,\u201d Trump said of his plan for fresh import taxes, following the Supreme Court\u2019s decision. \u201cI thought I’d make things simple, but they didn’t let us do that.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the new probes Wednesday. He has previously said<\/a> Section 301 investigations would conclude within five months \u2014 significantly quicker than the maximum time allowed under the law of 12 or 18 months<\/a>.<\/p>\n The countries under investigation are China, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan and India \u2014 in addition to the European Union.\u00a0<\/p>\n Greer \u2013\u2013 along with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent\u00a0\u2014\u00a0will travel to Paris next week<\/a>\u00a0to meet with China\u2019s vice premier, He Lifeng, for a new round of trade talks\u00a0ahead of Trump\u2019s planned meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping scheduled for the end of this month<\/a>\u00a0in Beijing.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement<\/a>, Greer contended that American manufacturing was being hurt by other countries sending their excess goods to U.S. markets.<\/p>\n \u201cAcross numerous sectors, many U.S. trading partners are producing more goods than they can consume domestically,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThis overproduction displaces existing U.S. domestic production or prevents investment and expansion in U.S. manufacturing production that otherwise would have been brought online.\u201d<\/p>\n In response, the European Union refuted that it was exporting \u201cexcess\u201d industrial products to the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sources of such overcapacity are well identified, and they do not lie in Europe,\u201d European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill<\/a> said Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gill said the EU would \u201ccarefully review\u201d the details of investigation, and warned that the 27-member bloc would respond \u201cfirmly and proportionately\u201d to any breach of the trade agreement reached between the U.S. and the European Union<\/a> last summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n The U.S. Office for the Trade Representative announced<\/a> that a docket to collect comments on the trade investigations would open Tuesday, followed by a hearing in May.\u00a0<\/p>\n