On March 12, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) initiated investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S. Code § 2411) into whether certain countries have failed to impose or effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced by forced labor. The probe targets 60 countries ranging from strategic allies, such as the European Union (EU), Canada and Mexico, to geopolitical rivals, such as China and Russia. This move comes a day after the administration announced a separate set of Section 301 investigations into structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors.

Section 301 grants the agency expansive authority to investigate and then remedy “unfair” trade practices, including by imposing tariffs and import bans. The new forced labor investigations build on past government efforts to combat forced labor globally. USTR recently concluded a separate Section 301 probe into Nicaragua’s labor policies in December 2025, determining that the nation’s policies and actions related to labor rights, human rights and basic freedoms represent an unreasonable burden on U.S. commerce. To address the Section 301 violation, USTR imposed a phased-in tariff on Nicaraguan goods. The tariff was set at zero percent, effective January 1, 2026, and will later increase to 10% on January 1, 2027, and 15% on January 1, 2028.

Similarly, the first Trump administration leveraged Section 301 to impose tariffs on a wide range of Chinese goods due to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation policies and practices that were "unreasonable and discriminatory," which the Biden administration largely maintained or expanded. A USTR fact sheet contrasts “cyclical excess capacity” with “structural excess capacity,” which it describes as leading to “large or persistent trade surpluses in certain manufacturing sectors, as well as underutilized and unused capacity.” The fact sheet includes an “illustrative list of sectors plagued by excess capacity and production” consisting of "aluminum, automobiles, batteries, cement, chemicals, electronics, energy goods, glass, machine tools, machinery, paper, plastics, processed food and beverages, robotics, satellites, semiconductors, ships, solar modules, steel, and transportation equipment.”

In the wake of Learning Resources, Inv. v. Trump, the Supreme Court decision invalidating tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Ambassador Jamieson Greer indicated that the administration would invoke a series of Section 301 investigations. While President Trump appears to favor a “baseline” tariff of at least 10% on all trading partners, Ambassador Greer and other senior USTR officials have been careful not to prejudge the results of this Section 301 investigation. They have emphasized that while tariffs are a potential outcome, the administration intends to conduct further negotiations with targeted trading partners. After the investigations are complete, the administration could use these tariffs to bring duties back to the level they were before the Learning Resources case for the targeted countries. The administration is timing these investigations to conclude before the president’s baseline 10% tariffs imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 expire.