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What is the story about?
The US on Wednesday, July 23, said it will release the "final responsive action" on Section 301 investigations on 60 trading partners, including India, on the issue of forced labour "as soon as tomorrow", before the 10 % additional tariffs on all countries expire.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told the Senate Finance Committee that it had investigated the top 60 trading partners of the US for their failure to adopt and effectively enforce an import ban on goods produced with forced labour.
"As soon as tomorrow, USTR will release its final responsive action on its Section 301 investigation of our top 60 trading partners’ failure to address international trade in forced goods at their borders," Greer told the Committee hearing here.
Last month, the USTR had proposed additional tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on trading partners depending on the strength of their existing measures to address this issue.
Greer said USTR has received over 1,600 comments on the proposed action and also held a second round of public hearings on this investigation, in which 107 witnesses provided testimony.
USTR is also probing structural excess capacity in over a dozen countries and has yet to come up with the preliminary findings.
The Trump administration had initiated the two investigations after the US Supreme Court, in February, dismissed last year’s "reciprocal tariffs" using emergency powers as illegal. The administration responded by levying 10% tariffs on all countries. The tariffs expire on Friday.
India has contested both the investigations initiated by the USTR and insisted that these issues can be discussed as part of the bilateral trade agreement, which is under discussion.
The US is India’s second-largest trade partner and the largest destination for exports. In 2025, bilateral goods trade was pegged at nearly $141 billion, with India’s exports pegged at $87.3 billion, according to commerce department data.
During the Senate hearing, Senator John Barrasso flagged concerns of soda ash producers in his home state of Wyoming. He wanted the USTR to take up the issue of fair market access to American-produced soda ash in India.
"I have a good relationship with my counterpart in India, and we work closely with their trade ministry. I will raise this with them next time,” Greer said.
He said India also has internal processes on trade remedies like the US Greer assured that he would make sure that any process India has is fair and that American producers are being treated fairly.
On March 16, 2026, India initiated an anti-dumping investigation into global imports of soda ash. It seeks to assess whether a surge of imports is causing or threatening to cause serious injury to the domestic industry.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told the Senate Finance Committee that it had investigated the top 60 trading partners of the US for their failure to adopt and effectively enforce an import ban on goods produced with forced labour.
"As soon as tomorrow, USTR will release its final responsive action on its Section 301 investigation of our top 60 trading partners’ failure to address international trade in forced goods at their borders," Greer told the Committee hearing here.
Last month, the USTR had proposed additional tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on trading partners depending on the strength of their existing measures to address this issue.
Greer said USTR has received over 1,600 comments on the proposed action and also held a second round of public hearings on this investigation, in which 107 witnesses provided testimony.
USTR is also probing structural excess capacity in over a dozen countries and has yet to come up with the preliminary findings.
The Trump administration had initiated the two investigations after the US Supreme Court, in February, dismissed last year’s "reciprocal tariffs" using emergency powers as illegal. The administration responded by levying 10% tariffs on all countries. The tariffs expire on Friday.
India has contested both the investigations initiated by the USTR and insisted that these issues can be discussed as part of the bilateral trade agreement, which is under discussion.
The US is India’s second-largest trade partner and the largest destination for exports. In 2025, bilateral goods trade was pegged at nearly $141 billion, with India’s exports pegged at $87.3 billion, according to commerce department data.
During the Senate hearing, Senator John Barrasso flagged concerns of soda ash producers in his home state of Wyoming. He wanted the USTR to take up the issue of fair market access to American-produced soda ash in India.
"I have a good relationship with my counterpart in India, and we work closely with their trade ministry. I will raise this with them next time,” Greer said.
He said India also has internal processes on trade remedies like the US Greer assured that he would make sure that any process India has is fair and that American producers are being treated fairly.
On March 16, 2026, India initiated an anti-dumping investigation into global imports of soda ash. It seeks to assess whether a surge of imports is causing or threatening to cause serious injury to the domestic industry.
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