US launches new trade probe targeting China, EU and key allies, sparking tariff fears

The US has launched a new investigation into some of its biggest trading partners including China, EU and India following the Supreme Court’s ruling to strike down Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

In a recent development, the US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced that a new probe under Section 301 over unfair market practices will put China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea and Mexico under the scrutiny by this summer.

Other countries, such as Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Switzerland and Norway, will also be investigated. However, Washington exempted Canada from this list.

The investigation would allow the Trump administration to impose new levies on the key trading partners if they found out the involvement of any country in unfair trade practices.

"The United States will no longer sacrifice its industrial base to other countries that may be exporting their problems with excess capacity and production to us," Greer said.

According to Greer, the probe is expected to be concluded before the expiration of Trump’s new temporary tariffs imposed in late February.

The recent announcement comes a week after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in which the court struck down the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration by calling it unlawful.

Trump called the Supreme Court decision “ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American.”

In a retaliatory move, the US President signed a new executive order aiming to impose new levies effective February 24.

The new levies were imposed under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, allowing the president to impose the tariffs for 150 days without congressional approval.

It also comes as top US officials are set to meet their Chinese counterparts in Paris this weekend, aiming to lay groundwork for Trump’s upcoming highly-anticipated meeting with Xi Jinping in April.