\n<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a rally at the US Steel-Irvin Works on May 30, 2025 in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
Jeff Swensen | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Here\u2019s CNBC\u2019s brief guide to Section 301s \u2014 what they are, why the White House has resorted to using them, and what President Donald Trump\u2019s administration hopes to achieve.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Put simply, Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 enables the investigation of perceived unfair trading practices to determine whether \u201cthe acts, policies, or practices of a foreign country are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Office of the United States Trade Representative\u2019s (USTR) Jamieson Greer announced a series of new investigations on Wednesday targeting 16 trading partners, ranging from Singapore and Switzerland, to India and Norway. A full list is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Section 301 investigations are not new<\/a>, with several probes into Brazil and China ongoing. The first Trump administration investigated foreign trade practices under Section 301 six times, with two probes into China and the EU resulting in the imposition of tariffs. Former President Joe Biden\u2019s administration also carried out Section 301 probes. <\/p>\n The latest investigations will examine whether these acts, policies, or practices burden or restrict U.S. commerce, and what action, if any, should be taken. <\/p>\n If the probes find against the economies in question, the USTR has the authority to impose new tariffs or other import restrictions, <\/strong>which could emerge in the summer.<\/p>\n The trade agency could also withdraw or suspend trade agreement concessions, or reach deals with the economies in question if they agree \u201cto either cease the conduct in question or compensate the U.S.,\u201d USTR said.<\/p>\n Retaliatory action should \u201caffect goods or services of the foreign country in an amount that is equivalent in value to the burden or restriction being imposed by that country on\u201d U.S. commerce, it added. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Section 301 probes follow the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Trump administration\u2019s \u201creciprocal\u201d tariffs \u2014 imposed on a raft of trading partners in April 2025 under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 1977\u00a0\u2014 were unlawful. <\/p>\n That left the administration scrabbling for other ways to reimpose duties that were struck down. <\/p>\n The White House initially responded to the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling by imposing a temporary 10% \u201cuniversal\u201d tariff (and threatening a higher 15% levy, which could be implemented soon<\/a>) on all imported goods by using Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. <\/p>\n These tariffs are only temporary, however, and Trump has made no secret of wanting to find a way to restore tariffs that were disallowed.<\/p>\n The latest Section 301 investigations<\/a> relate specifically to \u201cstructural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors\u201d, amid claims that rival economies are \u201cdumping\u201d excess production on U.S. markets and threatening domestic manufacturers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Workers listen as US Vice President JD Vance speaks, during a tour of Nucor Steel Berkeley in Huger, South Carolina, on May 1, 2025.<\/p>\n Kevin Lamarque | AFP | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n USTR noted Wednesday that such practices pose a \u201cserious challenge\u201d to Trump\u2019s reindustrialization efforts and make it harder \u201cto re-shore critical supply chains and create good-paying jobs for American workers.\u201d <\/p>\n The U.S. blames these dynamics for persistent trade deficits with trading partners, and for hampering growth.<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States will no longer sacrifice its industrial base to other countries that may be exporting their problems with excess capacity and production to us,\u201d Greer said Wednesday<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Consultations will now take place with the economies whose trade practices are in the spotlight. The USTR will hold a public hearing covering each investigated economy starting on May 5.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAfter all of that, the USTR, we will have our findings and our analysis, and we will propose, if necessary, a responsive action,\u201d Greer said. \u201cResponsive action can take a number of forms. It can be tariffs, it can be fees on services, it can be other things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n China and the EU are among the economies who have pushed back against the probes, warning that trade deals reached with Washington over the past year could be jeopardized. <\/p>\n Greer is due to announce on Thursday another Section 301 probe investigating imported goods made using forced labor. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Analysts say the timing of the latest trade probes is curious, given the White House\u2019s focus on the ongoing military operation against Iran. Using Section 301 is seen as an overt attempt to resurrect Trump\u2019s global tariffs strategy, which is currently subject to time restrictions, with temporary duties due to expire in July.<\/p>\n \u201cThe timing is curious. You would think that the U.S. administration has got its hands full right now, but apparently not, \u201d John Woods, Asia chief investment officer at Lombard Odier, told CNBC on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Section 301 \u201cwill be essentially a proxy for the trade tariffs that hitherto were imposed but subsequently blocked by the Supreme Court,\u201d he said, adding that the U.S. would use the investigations as leverage for further negotiations over trade deals.<\/p>\n Goldman Sachs\u2019 Tim Moe said it\u2019s no surprise that the Trump administration is resorting to using Section 122 and Section 301s to target trade partners after the Supreme Court decison.<\/p>\n \u201cIt should not be a total surprise that this has been announced. The timing, of course, is always unexpected, but I think it should not be a total surprise. That\u2019s number one. Number two is that Section 301 requires a process; there has to be an investigation, and there\u2019s got to be factual developments \u2026 [so] this will take some time to to play out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWhy has the U.S. launched new probes?<\/h2>\n
What happens next?<\/h2>\n
What do experts say?<\/h2>\n
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