The Trump administration on March 11, 2026, began a new trade investigation focused on manufacturing in foreign countries, framing it as part of an effort to replace tariffs the U.S. Supreme Court struck down. The process starts under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, according to the U.S. Trade Representative, as the administration seeks another legal pathway to import taxes that it says are necessary to protect American jobs.
In a call with reporters, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the administration was not trying to prejudge where the investigation will lead. He described the effort as keeping the policy direction the same while changing the tools, citing “the vagaries of courts and other things,” and emphasizing the goal of protecting American jobs.
The administration’s Section 301 review would look at claims that foreign manufacturers benefit from what the government describes as excess industrial capacity and government support. Greer said the investigation would examine government backing that could give foreign companies an advantage over U.S. companies, and the scope described by the administration points to issues such as subsidies and the suppression of workers’ wages.
The countries and territories identified as subject to the investigation include China, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, the self-governing island of Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan and India. The administration also said it is looking for persistent trade surpluses with the U.S. and for policies it characterizes as undermining competitive conditions.
Separate from the manufacturing-focused inquiry, Greer said the administration is also rolling out a Section 301 investigation intended to ban importing goods made with forced labor. He also indicated that additional Section 301 investigations could follow, including issues such as digital service taxes, pharmaceutical drug pricing and ocean pollution, while the Commerce Department runs trade investigations under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act.
Officials framed the new effort against a tight timeline tied to interim tariffs already in place. The administration has imposed a 10% tariff on foreign-made goods under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, with the tariffs set to expire after 150 days on July 24, and Greer said the administration is “keying off” that deadline to bring “potential options” to President Donald Trump as soon as possible.
Greer also described how the Section 301 investigations would operate alongside trade frameworks the administration announced last year after the earlier tariffs were structured in a way that later became subject to Supreme Court review. He said those frameworks would be considered as they “bump” against the demands of the Section 301 process, and he suggested negotiations could continue because “these countries continue to want to deal” and Trump “continues to want the deal.”
As the administration moves toward longer-term investigations, the new tariff strategy also comes as Trump faces political pressure ahead of midterm elections, with Democrats emphasizing tariff refunds after the Supreme Court decision, according to the AP report. Greer, in contrast, directed reporters back to the process itself, including what the administration says it will examine and the timeline it is following as it pursues another legal basis for replacement tariffs.
The current U.S. trade picture is also shaped by broader economic conditions that influence the costs of imports and the terms of trade, including the trade-weighted dollar index (broad) at 119.491 and net exports of goods and services at -762.356, as captured in FRED data for this article’s March 11, 2026 vintage.