• Beijing denounces transfer as ‘political manipulation’
• EU to ‘reply firmly’ if actions violate current pact
WASHINGTON: America introduced new investigations on Wednesday into what it considers unfair commerce practices by dozens of nations, opening the door to potential penalties resembling new tariffs as President Donald Trump seeks to switch duties struck down by the Supreme Courtroom.
The Trump administration is launching separate probes underneath Part 301 of the Commerce Act of 1974, one centered on industrial overproduction and one other on the import of products made with pressured labor, US Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer advised reporters.
The surplus industrial capability probe targets main buying and selling companions, together with the European Union, China, Japan, India, Mexico, South Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan and Vietnam, and will inflame already simmering commerce tensions.
Greer mentioned he seeks to conclude the brand new probes “as shortly as doable”.
EU, China response
Following the announcement of the brand new probes, the European Union’s govt vowed to “reply firmly” to any violation of a key tariff settlement with america.
The EU has its personal tariff pact with Washington, and the way forward for that deal has been thrown into query by the latest Supreme Courtroom ruling in opposition to Trump’s earlier duties.
“We shall be looking for additional readability from the US on how the opening of this part 301 investigation would work together with” the EU-US settlement struck final yr, EU Fee spokesperson Olof Gill mentioned.
“The fee would reply firmly and proportionately to any breach of the joint assertion commitments.”
In Beijing, China’s overseas ministry mentioned the brand new US commerce investigations had been “political manipulation” and that the central grievance of overcapacity was a “false proposition”.
“China opposes utilizing it as an excuse for political manipulation,” ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun advised a daily information convention, including that “tariff and commerce wars don’t serve the pursuits of any occasion”.
The sharp rebuke comes forward of a gathering between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese language Vice Premier He Lifeng in France from March 15 to March 16.
Revealed in Daybreak, March thirteenth, 2026
