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On March 11, 2026, the United States Trade Representative initiated investigations regarding "the acts, policies, and practices of certain economies relating to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors" under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The investigations will focus on the economies of China, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan, and India.
According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), disregard for market-based policies in these countries has resulted in production levels beyond levels of consumption or productive domestic investment. These trade surpluses, in turn, cause increased exports to the U.S., displacing U.S. domestic production and preventing investment in U.S. manufacturing. The list of sectors impacted in the report's illustrative list includes steel, aluminum, automobiles, cement, glass, and semiconductors.
For a foreign country's act, policy, or practice to be actionable under Section 301, the act must be "unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce." Unreasonable acts, policies, or practices that do not violate the U.S.'s international legal rights may nonetheless be unreasonable if they are "otherwise unfair and inequitable."
As part of USTR's investigation, parties may submit written comments on covered issues starting on March 17, 2026. USTR is particularly interested in comments regarding:
- The acts, policies, and practices of each investigated economy creating or maintaining structural excess capacity or production in specific sectors.
- Whether the acts, policies, and practices are unreasonable or discriminatory.
- Whether the acts, policies, and practices burden or restrict U.S. commerce, and if so, the nature and level of the burden or restriction. This would include economic assessments of the burden or restriction.
- Whether the acts, policies, and practices are actionable under section 301(b) of the Trade Act, and what action, if any, should be taken, including tariff and non-tariff actions.
- Whether there are additional considerations for assessing acts, policies, and practices that contribute to structural excess capacity or production in manufacturing sectors.
Parties must submit written comments to docket number USTR-2026-0067 ("Request for Comments on the Section 301 Investigations of Acts, Policies, and Practices of Certain Economies Relating to Structural Excess Capacity and Production in Manufacturing Sectors"), at https://comments.ustr.gov/s/.
The deadline to submit written comments is 11:59 p.m. EST on April 15, 2026. Beginning on May 5, 2026, USTR will also hold public hearings covering each economy subject to the investigation. Parties must submit their requests to appear at https://comments.ustr.gov/s/ by April 15, 2026.
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