Trump exceeded<\/a> his authority by invoking the IEEPA to impose the tariffs.<\/p>\nThe day after, Trump imposed a global 10 percent temporary tariff, which is set to expire on July 24.<\/p>\n
Section 301: A new workaround<\/p>\n
Section 301 allows the US government to investigate foreign practices deemed \u201cunjustifiable\u201d, \u201cunreasonable\u201d or discriminatory towards American businesses and to impose remedies such as tariffs or import restrictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labour is unacceptable,\u201d US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said. \u201cIt creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field \u2026 We will no longer tolerate this disparity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The administration opened Section 301 investigations into 60 economies earlier this year, in March.<\/p>\n
USTR concluded that, according to its investigations, each of the 60 economies failed to \u201ceffectively enforce a forced labour import prohibition\u201d, which they further deemed was \u201cunreasonable or discriminatory and burdens or restricts US commerce\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The USTR has proposed an additional 10 percent tariff on imports from Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, the European Union, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Taiwan and the United Kingdom, saying all of them already operate full or partial programmes.<\/p>\n
For the remaining 45 countries investigated, the USTR said it intends to impose a higher surcharge of 12.5 percent. That list covers Australia, China, India, New Zealand, Nigeria, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
The USTR said interested parties can submit \u201cwritten comments\u201d on the proposed tariff measures by July 6, before \u201cholding hearings\u201d on July 7 to discuss the proposals.<\/p>\n
Trade experts say the Trump administration\u2019s renewed reliance on Section 301 investigations is aimed at rebuilding its negotiating power.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the US Supreme Court\u2019s February 2026 ruling struck down the reciprocal tariffs, Washington lost much of its leverage in trade negotiations,\u201d said Ajay Srivastava, founder of the India-based Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).<\/p>\n
\u201cSection 301 investigations now appear to be the new pressure tool \u2013 using the threat of additional tariffs to discourage countries from abandoning existing deals and to push others, including India, to conclude negotiations quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moreover, the administration needed a more lasting legal foundation for its trade policy, Madeline Chalecki, assistant director at the Atlantic Council\u2019s GeoEconomics Center, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been used to impose tariffs on China since 2018 under both the Trump and Biden administrations and was specifically designed to address foreign trade practices through tariff remedies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike IEEPA, which gave the White House broad powers to act quickly, Section 301 requires investigations, public comment periods and formal determinations before tariffs can be imposed, she pointed out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe administration is essentially trading speed and discretion for durability and legal certainty,\u201d Chalecki added.<\/p>\n
\u2018Much harder to change\u2019<\/p>\n
India-based international trade lawyers Singh and Naik said while the approach could prove more durable than the reciprocal tariffs struck down by the courts, questions remain over the implementation of Section 301.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven precedent and the discretion given to the USTR by Congress, there is less risk of a legal challenge to the new tariffs,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the speed and summary nature of the process has raised some concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n
Similarly, the Atlantic Council\u2019s Chalecki said Section 301 tariffs are \u201cmuch harder to change\u201d. \u201cUnlike IEEPA, tariff rates cannot be raised, lowered or suspended overnight by executive order. Any future changes require a legal record, public consultation and formal action,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2018Unjustified\u2019<\/p>\n
Several of the economies targeted are already pushing back. The European Union has argued that it is implementing its own forced-labour import ban and questioned why it was included in the US proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Commission will carefully analyse the preliminary findings of the investigation and will continue engaging with the US Administration. That said, the EU considers tariffs imposed on these grounds to be unjustified,\u201d Olof Gill, deputy chief spokesperson for trade and economic security, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s foreign ministry spokesperson He Yongqian also denounced the move, accusing Washington of taking \u201cunilateral restrictive measures\u201d under the \u201cpretext of \u2018forced labour’\u201d.<\/p>\n
India has seemingly taken a more neutral approach as it continues to negotiate a trade deal with the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndia remains engaged with the US on the matter as a part of Section 301 proceedings. India is also parallelly engaged with the US for finalisation of a framework agreement as was announced on February 2, 2026,\u201d the commerce ministry said.<\/p>\n
Washington and New Delhi reached an understanding towards a trade agreement in February, but talks lost momentum after the US Supreme Court invalidated Trump\u2019s tariff regime.<\/p>\n
The global impact of these tariffs, if implemented, is likely to be limited, GTRI\u2019s Srivastava said, since they target \u201ca broad range of trading partners simultaneously\u201d.<\/p>\n
The larger effect, however, could fall on the US itself, he added. \u201cMore tariffs mean higher import costs, greater uncertainty for businesses, disrupted supply chains, and higher prices for American consumers and manufacturers,\u201d Srivastava added.<\/p>\n
Atlantic Council\u2019s Chalecki echoed Srivastava, saying the tariffs under Section 301 \u201cwill not rock the global economy\u201d any more than the IEEPA tariffs did, as trading partners were already familiar with high US tariffs.<\/p>\n
However, Chalecki said the US move, if successful, could \u201caccelerate the reorientation of global trade away\u201d from the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cBusinesses will shift supply chains and make different investment decisions, and we may see a rise in regional and sectoral trade agreements without large US presence,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Chalecki noted that governments are already adjusting their economic strategies and \u201cexpanding trade ties with alternative partners to reduce exposure to US uncertainty\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my opinion, the global economic impact won\u2019t come from the tariffs themselves, rather from the long-term consequences of protectionist US trade policy, which the Section 301 tariffs make more permanent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was no grand Rose Garden announcement, no aides holding placards with lists of countries and tariffs imposed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,1076,3139,129,3,104,21,19,22,20,25,1209,24],"class_list":["post-705163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-europe","tag-international-trade","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-trade-war","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-us-canada","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}