India among 16 countries hit by Trump's 'unfair trade probe': What this latest tariff push means

In yet another move the United States on Wednesday announced the launch of investigations into alleged unfair trade practices by 16 key countries. The US said that the step is part of an urgent effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to reinstate tariffs that were recently struck down as illegal by the Supreme Court of the United States. The investigations are being carried out under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorises the Office of the United States Trade Representative to impose tariffs or other retaliatory measures on countries found to be engaging in unfair trade practices. US trade representative Jamieson Greer told reporters that the probe will be followed by additional nations. The list of countries include:

• India
• Mexico
• China
• European Union
• Japan
• Taiwan
• Vietnam
• South Korea
• Singapore
• Switzerland
• Norway
• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• Cambodia
• Bangladesh
• Thailand

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What this means?

The move essentially means that after Supreme Court's shock, the administration is now using a different law, Section 301, to investigate trade partners. This law specifically targets "unfair" practices, providing a more established legal justification for imposing taxes. The justification given by Trump administration to launch a probe is a claim that these 16 countries are manufacturing far more goods than their own people can buy and then they are dumping their extra products into the US at low prices, thereby harming American manufacturers.

“We do expect that there will be other Section 301 investigations on a country-specific basis, or maybe other tools or investigations that may come up. I won’t go into too much detail,” Greer said. He also said that the trading partners, subject to the investigation, will also be consulted. “After all of that, we will have our findings and our analysis, and we will propose, if necessary, a responsive action. Responsive action can take a number of forms. It can be tariffs, it can be fees on services, it can be other things,” he added.

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India and US trade deal

India's name in the list appeared even as Washington and New Delhi announced a trade deal in February, where Indian exports to the US were reduce to a tariff level of 18 per cent, from previous 50 per cent. However, days after the announcement of the deal, the US Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, said that the US President did not have the authority to levy such duties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. Soon after, Trump announced a 15 per cent global tariff.

A chart provided by Reuters News Agency to show the goods trade surplus of the 16 countries with the US: