USTR Announces New Section 301 Investigations - The Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua Included in Latest Round
Greetings!
Late yesterday, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it had initiated new investigations into the trade practices of an additional 60 countries.
Included in this new round of investigations are the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
As with the previous USTR announcement on March 11th, the investigations will be conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.
While the previous investigation focused on manufacturing practices, this review will examine whether the named countries are allowing products made with forced labor to enter their markets and whether that gives them an unfair advantage that harms American trade.
This announcement was not unexpected. The Trump Administration had previously indicated it would seek to replace its reciprocal tariff program with other authorized trade authorities. This was in response to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, which invalidated the Administration’s reciprocal tariff program under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The new investigations are expected to become a potential pathway for future tariff actions under existing trade law.
With today’s announcement, USTR will open a comment period and hold public hearings on the matter.
CRA will continue to monitor developments closely and will engage directly with the Administration and the Office of the United States Trade Representative to ensure the interests of the premium cigar industry are represented and that any potential impacts are mitigated. We will provide updates as additional information becomes available on this initial round of investigations, as well as any future announced investigations.
To read a copy of the latest 301 investigation notice, click here.
Should you have any questions regarding the content of this message, please contact Cody Carden at cody.carden@cigarrights.org
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