Fourteen economies, including some that could be in line for related Section 301 tariffs, joined the U.S. recently in signing a joint ministerial statement regarding structural excess capacity and production.
According to information from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the joint statement “expresses our collective resolve to work together in new, dedicated sectoral platforms to examine and take effective actions that address structural excess capacity and production in several key sectors of concern,” starting with automobiles and electric vehicles, batteries, chemicals, foundational semiconductors, and solar panels. The statement also “calls on all countries to take steps to end the use of non-market policies and practices that distort markets and perpetuate structural excess capacity and production.”
The signatories to the joint statement are Argentina, Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, South Korea, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.
Earlier this year USTR initiated Section 301 investigations of the acts, policies, and practices of 16 trading partners relating to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, the EU, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
No conclusions to those investigations have yet been announced by USTR, though there has been speculation that they could result in additional tariffs on imports from subject economies. There has thus far been no word from the White House as to whether the fact that the EU, India, Japan, Mexico, and South Korea signed the joint statement could mean lower or zero Section 301 tariffs on imports from those countries if and when such measures are imposed.
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