President Donald Trump’s trade team has opened broad probes into 16 major U.S. trading partners, paving the way for a possible fresh round of tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down the administration’s prior duties last month.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, that his office will probe China, the European Union, Japan, India, South Korea, Mexico and ten other economies for allegedly saturating global markets with surplus manufacturing capacity. The investigation could support new import duties on items ranging from steel and semiconductors to processed foods and solar panels before summer.
The action is the administration’s most forceful effort to revive its tariff agenda after a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling on February 20, 2026, that voided President Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs. Days after that decision, Trump imposed a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974—a balance-of-payments measure he later raised to 15%. That levy, however, expires after 150 days unless Congress votes to extend it, with a likely end date around July 24.
The Section 301 investigations provide an alternative without statutory time limits or caps on tariff levels. Greer told reporters his office aims to finish the probes before the 150-day window closes, potentially giving the administration open-ended authority to keep or increase duties on major trading partners. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently forecasted that by August, U.S. tariffs would return to the pre-ruling levels.
“Our view is that key trading partners have developed production capacity that is really untethered from the market incentives of domestic and global demand,” Greer said at a press briefing.
A separate probe launched last week is examining about 60 countries to determine whether foreign governments effectively block imports of goods produced with forced labor. That investigation includes Canada and the United Kingdom, neither of which was listed in the excess manufacturing capacity inquiry.
The manufacturing investigation focuses on economies that Greer alleges produce far more than domestic consumption requires. Officials contend that those countries accomplish this through subsidies, low wages, state-owned enterprises, lax environmental enforcement, and currency actions. According to administration officials, the result displaces U.S. factories and blocks the expansion of American manufacturing.
The probes span 20 manufacturing categories, such as aluminum, autos, batteries, cement, chemicals, electronics, energy goods, glass, machine tools, machinery, paper, plastics, processed foods, robotics, satellites, semiconductors, ships, solar modules, steel, and transportation equipment. Several targeted nations have recently concluded trade pacts with Washington, including Indonesia, which in February secured a landmark deal removing tariffs on more than 99% of U.S. exports to that market.
Unlike the president’s earlier tariff proclamations, Section 301 probes involve public comment periods and hearings. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will take written comments through April 15, with a public hearing on manufacturing excess capacity set to begin May 5. A separate hearing on forced labor issues is scheduled for April 28.
The comment docket opened March 17, giving stakeholders exactly one month to submit input before the deadline. Greer has sought formal consultations with all 16 governments named in the manufacturing investigation.
Canada’s omission from the manufacturing list drew notice, although it is included in the forced labor probe. The European Union appears on both lists, along with China, Japan, India, South Korea, Vietnam, Mexico, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.
Greer signaled that additional investigations could follow. He told reporters the administration plans to open more Section 301, country-specific probes, potentially examining rice and seafood markets. The trade representative said he does not expect new Section 232 national security probes in the coming weeks.
The timing has diplomatic significance. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on Sunday and Monday in Paris for trade talks, setting the stage for President Trump’s planned state visit to Beijing from March 31 to April 2—the first trip by a U.S. president to China since Trump’s 2017 visit in his first term.
Section 301 authority allows the trade representative to enact tariffs, import limits, or other trade measures in response to unfair foreign practices. The 1974 law places no preset restrictions on duty levels or duration, giving the administration more leeway than the balance-of-payments statute underlying the current global tariff.
The investigations launch as the administration races to reconstruct its tariff framework after the Supreme Court’s February ruling. Whether this new statutory base is more resilient than the last will likely be decided by the courts—and by whether Congress votes to extend the Section 122 tariffs before they lapse in July.
