The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced it will include rice subsidies in its unfair trade investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act to impose tariffs.
Japan's Nikkei reported on the 26th that USTR Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview with Fox Business, "USTR is reviewing plans to impose new tariffs on major trading partners and regions based on the results of unfair trade investigations."
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that reciprocal tariffs were unlawful, the Donald Trump administration enacted a 10% global tariff on the 24th under Section 122 of the Trade Act. Since this tariff applies for only 150 days, the Trump administration appears poised to transition to new tariffs based on Section 301.
Regarding this, Greer said, "We are currently imposing 10% tariffs and plan to raise tariffs to 15% for some countries. After that, we are considering higher tariffs for other countries."
Greer cited Section 301 as the legal instrument for imposing tariffs after Section 122 expires. He identified investigation targets including overproduction, discriminatory digital regulations against U.S. companies, and subsidies for rice and seafood. He named China, Vietnam, and other Asian countries, along with the European Union, as primary targets.
Nikkei reported, "Japan was not mentioned as a target of the unfair trade investigation," adding, "The digital regulations appear to be aimed at the EU and South Korea."
Concerns are emerging that Korea could face spillover effects after USTR announced it would target countries implementing rice protection policies through subsidies in its unfair trade investigation. The U.S. strongly pressured Korea to open its rice market during tariff negotiations last year.
Korea compensates farmers' income when rice prices fall through its rice direct payment system. President Trump complained in April last year, when imposing reciprocal tariffs on various countries, that Korea was blocking imports of U.S. rice through its tariff-rate quota (TRQ) system.
The legal basis for the 10% global tariff currently in effect is Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 15% for a maximum of 150 days without congressional approval when the U.S. faces serious balance-of-payments deficits.
