US Investigates Trade Practices of 16 Nations Including Indonesia, Prepares New Tariffs

NEW YORK — The Trump administration has announced a new trade investigation into China, Mexico, the European Union, and more than a dozen other countries, including Indonesia.

The measure is being taken to replace Trump’s reciprocal tariff policy, which was recently declared illegal by the US Supreme Court.

The investigation will be conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced this during a press conference.

Section 301 tariffs could potentially replace at least some of the reciprocal tariffs that Trump previously imposed on most countries globally without Congressional authorisation.

“The President’s trade policy remains the same,” Greer said, according to CNBC on Thursday (12/3/2026). “Protecting American jobs and ensuring we have fair trade with our trading partners.”

“We expect this investigation will uncover various unfair trade practices related to excess capacity and production in the manufacturing sector,” he said.

“Our view is that major trading partners still have production capacity that is truly unbound by market incentives from domestic and global demand,” he stated.

According to Greer, this condition has led to large and persistent trade surpluses.

“We anticipate there will be additional Section 301 investigations based on specific countries, or possibly other tools or investigations that may emerge,” Greer said.

“I won’t provide much detail on that,” he added.

In the process, the US Trade Representative’s Office (USTR) will accept written comments regarding the investigation and hold hearings.