New York, Mar 12: The US has initiated investigations against its trading partners, including India, China, Japan and the EU, to look into and address “unfair foreign practices” that adversely impact American manufacturing.
United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer announced the initiation of a probe regarding the “acts, policies, and practices” of various economies under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974, relating to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors.
The economies subject to these investigations are Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The investigations will determine whether those acts, policies, and practices are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict US commerce, the USTR said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The United States will no longer sacrifice its industrial base to other countries that may be exporting their problems with excess capacity and production to us,” Greer said in a statement.
He said the investigations underscore President Donald Trump’s commitment to reshore critical supply chains and create good-paying jobs for American workers across American manufacturing sectors.
Greer said the Trump administration’s reindustrialisation efforts continue to face significant challenges due to foreign economies’ structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors.
He added that across numerous sectors, many US trading partners are producing more goods than they can consume domestically.
“This overproduction displaces existing US domestic production or prevents investment and expansion in US manufacturing production that otherwise would have been brought online. In many sectors, the US has lost substantial domestic production capacity or has fallen worryingly behind foreign competitors.”
Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which is designed to address unfair foreign practices affecting US commerce, may be used to respond to “unjustifiable, unreasonable, or discriminatory” foreign government practices that burden or restrict US commerce.
Under Section 302(b) of the Trade Act, the USTR may self-initiate an investigation under Section 301.
An investigation under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act examines whether the acts, policies, or practices of a foreign country are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict US commerce.
Greer has initiated these investigations after considering the advice of the inter-agency Section 301 Committee and consulting with appropriate advisory committees.
Following initiation of the investigation, the United States Trade Representative must seek consultations with the economies whose acts, policies, or practices are under investigation.
USTR has requested consultations with the governments of China, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan, and India.
A docket for comments regarding the investigations will open on March 17, 2026. USTR will hold a hearing in connection with these investigations starting on May 5, 2026.
