On March 11, 2026, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) initiated investigations into the Acts, Policies, and Practices of Certain Economies Relating to Structural Excess Capacity and Production in Manufacturing Sectors under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. This announcement had been expected since the Supreme Court of the United States invalidated President Donald Trump’s authority to implement IEEPA tariffs and the USTR indicated it would initiate Section 301 investigations to alternatively “address many of the issues at the heart of the President’s reciprocal tariff program.” See Thompson Hine Update of February 23, 2026. The investigations will determine whether the actions of the following countries are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce: China, the European Union (EU), Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan, and India.

The forthcoming Federal Register notice states that these “[k]ey trading partners have developed production capacity untethered from the incentives of domestic and global demand. This excess capacity leads to, among others, overproduction and large or persistent trade surpluses, as well as underutilized and unused capacity, in manufacturing sectors. These investigations will focus on economies that appear to exhibit structural excess capacity and production in various manufacturing sectors, such as through large or persistent trade surpluses or underutilized or unused capacity.”

This notice provides background on what the Trump administration views as structural excess capacity and production in various manufacturing sectors engaged in by the countries subject to this Section 301 investigation. The notice also provides summaries of the evidence of such excess capacity by providing trade data and statistics on the economies of the countries to be investigated.

Investigation Timeline

Upon initiation of an investigation, the USTR must first seek consultations with the countries subject to the investigation. The USTR must also seek public comment and hold a hearing on the matter. The following dates have been scheduled:

  • March 17, 2026: The USTR opens the dockets for submission of written comments and requests to appear at the hearings.
  • April 15, 2026: Submissions are due on this date for written comments, hearing appearance requests, and summaries of testimony.
  • May 5, 2026: The Section 301 Committee will convene public hearings in the main hearing room of the U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, D.C., 20436, beginning at 10 a.m. ET, continuing, as necessary, until May 8.
  • Seven calendar days after the last day of the public hearing will be the deadline for submission of any post-hearing rebuttal comments.

Interested parties should submit documents in response to this notice, including written comments, hearing appearance requests, summaries of testimony, and post-hearing rebuttal comments, through the online USTR portal: https://comments.ustr.gov/s/ on Docket No. USTR-2026-0067 (request for public comments) and USTR-2026-0068 (request to appear at the hearing).

Request for Public Comments

Interested parties are invited to submit written comments on any issue covered by the investigation. The USTR particularly requests comments regarding:

  • The acts, policies, and practices of each investigated economy creating or maintaining structural excess capacity or production in specific sectors.
  • Whether the acts, policies, and practices are unreasonable or discriminatory.
  • Whether the acts, policies, and practices burden or restrict U.S. commerce, and if so, the nature and level of the burden or restriction, including economic assessments of the burden or restriction.
  • Whether the acts, policies, and practices are actionable under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, and what action, if any, should be taken, including tariff and non-tariff actions.
  • Whether there are additional considerations for assessing acts, policies, and practices that contribute to structural excess capacity or production in manufacturing sectors.