Starting this week, the Office of the US Trade Representative will begin hearings in two investigations that are expected to lead to a new round of US tariffs – taxes paid by importers in the United States and usually passed on via higher prices to consumers who are already fed up with the high cost of living. Trump’s newest tariff push is sure to face more challenges in court but is likely to prove sturdier than the one the Supreme Court tossed out.
First up is a hearing Tuesday and Wednesday into whether 60 economies – from Nigeria to Norway and accounting for 99% of US imports – do enough to prohibit the trade in products created by forced labor. “For too long, American workers and firms have been forced to compete against foreign producers who may have an artificial cost advantage gained from the scourge of forced labor,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in March.
The administration could punish scofflaws with new tariffs. Then, next week, the administration will hold hearings on whether 16 US trading partners – including China, the European Union and Japan – are overproducing goods, driving down prices and putting US manufacturers at a disadvantage. The economies being investigated account for 70% of US imports, according to Erica York of the Tax Foundation.
Again, the probe could result in new tariffs. Most major economies, including China, the EU and Japan, are on both lists. The administration has brought the cases under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorizes tariffs and other sanctions against countries found to engage in “unjustifiable,” “unreasonable” or “discriminatory” trade practices.
US Trade Representative Greer, who is overseeing the investigations, has insisted he won’t prejudge them. But importers and foreign countries have doubts the process will be fair. After all, Trump’s Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, did not wait for the investigations to be completed to proclaim that the US government will replace its original tariff revenues with new import taxes, including ones to be imposed under Section 301. The president himself has said that new tariffs “are going to get us more money.’’
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