Trump Administration Opens Investigations into Trading Partners

Washington, March 11 (Jiji Press)–The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump opened investigations into trade acts, policies and practices in 16 major trading partners including Japan, China and the European Union as he seeks to impose new tariffs. The probes under Section 301 of the 1974 trade act relate to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. “The investigations will determine whether those acts, policies, and practices are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce,” the USTR’s office said. The Trump administration hopes to raise tariff rates back to levels before the U.S. Supreme Court last month struck down his so-called reciprocal tariffs. The 10 pct global tariffs that the Trump administration imposed after the Supreme Court ruling will remain effective for 150 days. The USTR’s office aims to conclude the investigations before they expire. The investigations cover Japan, though Japanese industry minister Ryosei Akazawa asked U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick this month to exclude the country from new tariffs. The Japanese government has demanded that the country is not put at a disadvantage compared with last year’s trade agreement between the two countries. USTR Jamieson Greer said in a conference call that trade agreements “don’t speak to Section 301.” He also said, “We keep the deal as long as we want to keep the deal.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]