U.S. Launches Sweeping Trade Probes Into China, EU and Other Major Economies

The Trump administration launched sweeping trade investigations into China, the European Union, Mexico and more than a dozen other economies on March 11, deploying a new legal strategy to impose tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down its previous border levies.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced during a press teleconference same day that the U.S. will launch trade investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into its trading partners including China, Mexico, the European Union, Japan, India, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Thailand and China's Taiwan region. New tariffs that the U.S. may implement following the investigations will replace the reciprocal tariffs that were ruled illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court in February.