The office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced this Thursday (12) the opening of a new investigation against Brazil and dozens of other countries for unfair trade practices.
According to the ministry, the focus of the American government’s new investigation will be to determine whether the acts, policies and practices of each of these economies encourage the practice of forced labor, which would create an artificial cost advantage for these countries and harm the American economy.
“These investigations will determine whether foreign governments have taken sufficient steps to ban the import of products made with forced labor and how the failure to eradicate these abhorrent practices impacts American workers and businesses,” said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
The action is based on Section 301, a provision of the American Trade Law established in 1974 that aims to investigate possible unfair practices committed by foreign countries, which end up affecting US trade.
The Trump administration said it has begun consultations with the governments of these investigated economies and that the US Trade Representative will hold hearings related to these investigations on April 28. “To ensure their considerations are taken into account, interested parties should submit written comments, requests to appear at the hearing, along with a summary of testimony, by April 15, 2026,” a USTR statement reads.
Brazil was already investigated based on Section 301
US President Donald Trump had already announced in July last year, when he imposed tariffs on imports from Brazil, the opening of an investigation into unfair trade practices.
At the time, the information was contained in the letter addressed to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). In the document, Trump cited “Brazil’s continued attacks on the digital commercial activities of American companies, as well as other unfair commercial practices” to justify the measures.
If illegalities are found during the investigation, the trade representative can apply measures to prevent economic abuses against the United States, including new tariffs and trade restrictions.
See list of countries targeted by the new investigation
- Algeria
- Angola
- Argentina
- Australia
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Brazil
- Cambodia
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- European Union
- Guatemala
- Guiana
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- India
- Indonesia
- Iraq
- Israel
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kuwait
- Libya
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- Morocco
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Nigeria
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Peru
- Filipinas
- Qatar
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Sri Lanka
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Trinidad e Tobago
- Türkiye
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
