The latest round of tariff threats issued by Donald Trump once again illustrates how central protectionist trade policies have become to his economic and political strategy. Over the past few years, tariffs have been one of the most visible instruments through which the United States has attempted to reshape the global trading system. Now, after a legal setback from the Supreme Court of the United States, the Trump administration has found a new pathway to sustain that pressure.

By launching investigations into the trade practices of sixteen countries under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, Washington has effectively revived the tariff threat against a wide group of trading partners, including India, China, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico. The move comes in the wake of an important legal challenge to the administration’s earlier trade measures. The Supreme Court recently struck down a set of global tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, ruling that the government had exceeded its authority in implementing them. That decision created a complicated situation for Washington. Several countries had already entered into negotiations with the United States or were in the process of finalising trade arrangements aimed at avoiding higher tariffs.

When the court invalidated those measures, the credibility of Washington’s tariff leverage was suddenly weakened. In response, the administration appears to have chosen a familiar strategy ~ using investigations as a prelude to potential tariffs. Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 has long been one of the most powerful tools available to American trade policymakers. It allows the Office of the United States Trade Representative to investigate alleged unfair trade practices by foreign governments and to impose retaliatory measures if such practices are confirmed. In the past, this instrument has been used to address issues ranging from intellectual property violations to industrial subsidies.

Under the current initiative, however, the focus appears to be on what the United States describes as “structural excess capacity” in several economies. According to American officials, many of the countries under investigation have maintained large trade surpluses with the United States, reflecting policies that allegedly favour domestic producers while disadvantaging American manufacturers. The list of countries being examined is extensive. Apart from major economic powers such as China, Japan and India, the investigation also includes economies like Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia,........

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