The Trump administration has launched unfair trade practices investigations into dozens of countries. 

The probes will look into everything from excess industrial capacity to whether other countries are doing enough to combat forced labor. The economies involved include allies such as Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the EU.  

If you’re wondering why the White House is suddenly launching all of these probes, look no further than the tariffs the Supreme Court struck down in February.  

The Trump administration has made no secret of the fact that it wants to reimpose the tariffs SCOTUS ruled unconstitutional. The new trade investigations are “the next part of a whack-a-mole strategy,” said Ryan Young, senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

That strategy includes temporary tariffs under Sections 232 and 301 of two separate laws, while the Trump administration looks for and avenue to permanent ones.

“Section 232 requires a national security rationale. And Section 301 … well, that requires a very vague definition of unfair trade practices,” Young said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is conducting the Section 301 investigations. 

“Tariffs coming out of both of these Section 301 investigations that have been launched this week are a foregone conclusion,” said Josh Kagan, who served in the trade representative’s office under President Joe Biden and during President Donald Trump’s first term. He’s now at the law firm Kelley Drye and Warren. 

Kagan said there could be a lot of variation with regards to the tariffs that come out of these investigations. 

“The rates could be different by country,” he said. “And it’s even possible that, for some … they could choose to employ some of the other remedies.”

Like new trade deals. 

There’s also another possibility, said Inu Manak, senior fellow for international trade at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“This time around, compared to Trump one, we may actually see more legal challenges” she said.

Manak said that’s because of the speed with which the Trump administration is acting. It wants to have investigations done and new tariffs in place before the temporary ones expire in July. 

Related Topics