Trump Section 301 trade probes to replace IEEPA tariffs

Trump administration on Wednesday announced new business investigations China, Mexico, the European Union and more than a dozen other economies seek to replace President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which were recently ruled illegal by the Supreme Court.

The investigations, which will likely expand to more countries, will be conducted under Article 301 of the 1974 Commercial Code. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters during a call.

This law allows the United States to impose tariffs on goods imported from other countries found to engage in unfair trade practices.

Section 301 tariffs could replace at least some of the reciprocal tariffs that Trump imposed on most of the world’s countries last year without congressional approval.

“The president’s trade policy remains the same,” Greer said.

“Protect American jobs and make sure we trade fairly with our trading partners,” he said.

Greer said Section 301 investigations “will cover the actions, policies and practices of certain economies related to structural overcapacity and production in their manufacturing sectors.”

“We expect this investigation to uncover excess capacity in manufacturing and a variety of unfair trading practices related to production,” he said. “Our view is that key trading partners still have production capacity that is truly independent of the market incentives of domestic and global demand.”

This led to large and persistent trade surpluses, he said.

Besides Mexico, China and the EU, other economies to be examined are: Japan, India, Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Thailand.

“We expect other Section 301 investigations or perhaps other tools or investigations to emerge on a country-by-country basis,” Greer said. “I won’t go into too much detail.”

Under Section 301, the Office of the Trade Representative will receive written comments and hold a hearing regarding the investigation. “We will also consult with our commercial partners who are subject to this investigation,” Greer said.

“After all of this, we at USTR will take our findings and analysis and recommend responsive action if necessary,” he said. “Responsive action can take various forms. It can be tariffs, it can be service fees, it can be other things.”

In its 6-3 decision on February 20, the Supreme Court said it did not have the authority to impose such mandates under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), as Trump claimed.

A few hours after that decision, Trump signed an executive order imposing a new 10% “global tariff” under Section 122 of the Trade Act. Article 122 tariffs expire within 150 days.

In an interview with CNBC last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted that by August, U.S. tariffs will return to the levels they were before the Supreme Court decision.

Bessent said that in the coming months, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce will complete trade-related studies that will allow them to impose more tariffs.

“I have a strong belief that tariff rates will return to their previous rates within five months, and these are very frustrating officials,” Bessent said.

“They have survived more than 4,000 legal challenges. They move slower, but they are more robust,” he said.