Cranes load containers onto ships at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, US, on March 6, 2025.Photo:VCG

The US Trade Representative's office (USTR) announced on Wednesday local time the initiation of the so-called Section 301 investigations against a number of trading partners, including China, the EU and India, over claims regarding structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors. 

A Chinese expert said on Thursday that the move is further evidence of the US attempting to use its economic hegemony to serve unilateral and politically driven purposes, warning that it could further undermine already fragile global trade and supply chains strained by the Iran war and its previous protectionist measures.

The USTR claimed in its Wednesday's announcement that the probe will "determine whether those acts, policies, and practices are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict US commerce." More than a dozen of economies was listed as targets of the probe, including China, the EU, India, Singapore, Switzerland, Japan and Indonesia.

This came just weeks after US President Donald Trump said on February 21 local time that he would raise his new global tariff to 15 percent, after the US Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs under a law meant for national emergencies were illegal. The ruling received widespread applause among American businesses, and many of which have since begun seeking refunds.

The USTR's Wednesday announcement, however, indicates that the US administration still treats tariffs as a tool for dealing with other countries, He Weiwen, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Thursday, noting that this probe shows an attempt by the US administration to prepare for a new round of tariffs, after its previous measures were invalidated by the US Supreme Court. 

The expert further noted that citing so-called overcapacity as a justification for unilateral trade measures is not a new tactic, and such moves are primarily driven by political considerations, essentially reflecting a deeply entrenched hegemonic mindset in trade policy.

The global industrial division determines that countries place different emphasis on manufacturing capacity and consumption, which is a natural outcome of a market economy and a normal feature of the global division of labor, Gao Lingyun, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.

On one hand, the US enjoys affordable and high-quality products from other countries; on the other hand, it complains about so-called excess capacity, which is inherently contradictory, said Gao, noting that forcing companies to move production to the US through administrative measures and political pressure would only raise production costs, ultimately hurting American consumers.

Moreover, at a time when disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have severely affected global industrial and supply chains as a result of the US-Israeli strikes against Iran, the US is attempting to revive its unilateral tariff strategy, which is "an irresponsible move that would only further destabilize an already fragile global supply and production network," Gao said.