Section 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974—the statutory authority used during the first Trump administration to impose tariffs on goods imported from China—affords the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) the power to commence investigations into any acts, policies, and practices of a foreign country that are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce.
Investigation into Excess Capacity and Production in the Manufacturing Sector
On March 11, 2026, United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the initiation of Section 301 investigations that will examine structural excess capacity and production in the manufacturing sectors of 16 economies to determine whether those economies' large or persistent trade surpluses, or their underutilized or unused capacity, are impacting U.S. domestic production and causing the United States to fall behind foreign competitors.
The economies subject to investigation are China, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan, and India.
The Federal Register Notice asserts that many U.S. trading partners are producing more goods than they can consume domestically. This overproduction is said to displace existing U.S. domestic production and prevent investment and expansion in U.S. manufacturing production. As a result, this presents a challenge to the administration's "efforts to re-shore supply chains and provide good-paying jobs for American workers." USTR also provided an illustrative list of sectors plagued by excess capacity and production, which includes aluminum, automobiles, batteries, cement, chemicals, electronics, energy goods, glass, machine tools, machinery, non-ferrous metals, paper, plastics, processed food and beverages, robotics, satellites, semiconductors, ships, solar modules, steel, and transportation equipment.
Investigation into Forced Labor Practices
On March 12, 2026, the United States Trade Representative initiated additional Section 301 investigations into 60 countries related to their alleged failure to impose and enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor. Ambassador Greer stated that 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."
The Federal Register Notice highlights specific inputs produced by forced labor for downstream goods, including cotton, textiles, palm fruit for cooking oils and biofuels, fish used to produce fish oil and fish meal, and critical minerals used to produce solar products and auto parts.
The impacted countries include Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, the European Union, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Vietnam.
Opportunities for Hearings and Comments
On May 5, 2026, following the investigations into excess industrial capacity and production, the Section 301 Committee will hold public hearings to discuss any subsequent findings and determinations at the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) beginning at 10:00 a.m. and continuing as necessary until May 8, 2026. The USTR will also open dockets for submission of written comments and requests to appear at the hearings on March 17, 2026. To ensure consideration, all comments and requests should be submitted by April 15, 2026, at 11:59 p.m.
For the Section 301 forced labor investigations, the Section 301 Committee will hold public hearings beginning on April 28, 2026 at 10:00 a.m., and continuing as necessary, until May 1, 2026. The dockets for submission of written comments and requests to appear at the hearings opened on March 12, 2026, at 9:45 p.m., and the deadline to submit is April 16, 2026.
Venable's International Trade and Logistics Group will continue to closely monitor any new developments in the pending investigations. If you have any questions on this topic or would like to participate in the hearings or submit comments, please feel free to reach out to the authors for guidance.