The Trump administration has launched new trade investigations into foreign manufacturing after the US Supreme Court struck down a previous tariff arrangement. This step is being considered an attempt to compensate for the billions of dollars of revenue that the government had to lose after the court’s decision. The US administration has started this investigation on Wednesday under Section 301 of the Trade Act 1974. Under this process, the industrial policies of foreign companies and countries will be examined, after which new import duties (tariffs) can be imposed on them. US Trade Representative Jameson Greer told reporters that the government’s policy has not changed, only the equipment used may change. He said the main objective of the administration is to protect American industry and jobs.
Policies of many countries will be examined
Many major trading partner countries are included in the scope of the new investigation. These include countries like India, China, European Union, Bangladesh, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Mexico and Taiwan. The US government will investigate the policies of these countries which may harm American companies. It will look at issues like industrial subsidies, wage suppression and persistent trade surplus in the US market.
Turmoil may increase again in the global economy
Experts believe that if new tariffs are implemented after this investigation, tension in global trade may increase again. Due to the tariffs imposed earlier, there was a sharp economic conflict between America and many of its trading partners. However, Greer said the trading structures announced last year were separate in their own right and the new investigation was not directly linked to them. Nevertheless, further decisions can be taken keeping these agreements in mind.
Action will also be taken against products made with forced labour.
The Trump administration has announced the launch of another investigation under Section 301, aimed at assessing the possibility of banning the import of products made with forced labor. Apart from this, new investigations can also be started in future on issues like digital services tax, price of medicines and marine pollution.
pressure of deadline
Currently, America has imposed a temporary tariff of 10% on foreign products under Section 122, which will expire after 150 days on July 24. Trump has earlier talked about increasing this import duty to 15%, but this has not been implemented yet. According to Greer, the administration wants to complete the investigation as soon as possible and give possible options to the President, so that a new trade policy can be decided.
