The investigations aim to determine whether the “acts, policies and practices” of each of the economies are “unreasonable or discriminatory” and constitute a “burden or restriction” on U.S. trade
The United States has launched an investigation into the economies of 60 countries, including the European Union, Brazil and Angola, to determine whether they took “sufficient measures” to prevent the import of goods produced with forced labor.
“Governments have not effectively imposed or enforced measures to prohibit products manufactured with forced labor from entering their markets,” said White House Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
In a statement released on Thursday, Greer said that “for too long” the United States (US) has been “forced to compete with foreign producers who may have an artificial cost advantage.”
The leader expressed confidence that the investigations will demonstrate “how the failure to eradicate these abhorrent practices” affects American companies and workers.
The investigations aim to determine whether the “acts, policies and practices” of each of the economies are “unreasonable or discriminatory” and constitute a “burden or restriction” on U.S. trade.
The list includes some of the world’s largest economies, such as China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Israel, Canada, Australia, Russia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Mexico.
On Wednesday, the US Government had launched a commercial investigation into industrial production in foreign countries, aiming to circumvent the Supreme Court’s ‘lead’ on President Donald Trump’s application of customs surcharges by invoking the state of economic emergency.
The investigations are launched under the Trade Act of 1974, which could eventually lead to new import tariffs, but White House Trade Representative Jamieson Greer today refused to anticipate the outcome of the process.
The first investigations, he said, “will focus on economies where the evidence appears to point to structural overcapacity.”
“The policy remains the same — the tools may change, depending (…) on the vicissitudes of the courts and other things,” said Greer, in a conference call with journalists, highlighting that the fundamental objective was to protect American jobs.
While they were in force, the customs surcharges ‘failed’ by the Supreme Court generated 166 billion dollars (143.8 billion euros) in revenue for the federal government, which can now be refunded.
Trump and his team have admitted they seek with the new process, using different laws to set new tariffs, to replace hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue lost after the Supreme Court ruling in February.
Shortly after the decision, the government imposed 10% tariffs on foreign goods under the 1974 Trade Act, but these tariffs expire after 150 days, on July 24.
Trump stated that he planned to increase this import tax to 15%, but has not yet done so.
