Washington launched trade investigations into 16 economies including Taiwan on Wednesday, marking a sharp turn in US economic policy that places America's most critical semiconductor supplier under the same scrutiny as China.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the Section 301 probe less than three weeks after the Supreme Court struck down the previous administration's sweeping global tariffs. The examination targets whether these economies' "policies and practices contribute to structural excess capacity and production" in manufacturing sectors and whether they constitute "unreasonable or discriminatory" conduct.
The other 15 targeted economies are China, Japan, South Korea, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Mexico, and India.
Greer stated the initiative reflects efforts to "rebuild American manufacturing and strengthen domestic supply chains." He emphasized: "In many sectors, the United States has lost substantial domestic production capacity or has fallen worryingly behind foreign competitors."
The administration characterizes foreign structural overcapacity as an obstacle to US reindustrialization. Section 301 authority, dating to the Trade Act of 1974, permits retaliatory tariffs for unfair trade practices.
