The Office of the United States Trade Representative released a report Monday highlighting foreign trade barriers that could influence tariffs the president puts into effect this week.
President Trump is set to announce on Wednesday global tariffs that he says will combat unfair trade treatment by other countries and make sure American exporters remain competitive.
On Monday, the Office of the United States Trade Representative released a wide-ranging report on foreign trade barriers that could hint at some of the trade battles the Trump administration aims to fight.
In an annual report, the office listed the most important barriers to U.S. exports in dozens of countries. Those obstacles included tariffs, but also laws, regulations and policies that the administration said undermine competition. Here are eight of the most consequential trading partners for the United States that could be targeted in the president’s tariff announcements this week.
China
The report dedicated almost 50 of its nearly 400 pages to China, which has long been a subject of trade criticism for American officials and companies.
The report criticized China as using industrial planning and other policies to support certain sectors it had targeted for “domination,” such as robotics, aerospace, new energy vehicles and biopharmaceuticals. The trade representative’s office argued that those tools sometimes worked by discriminating against or taking advantage of foreign enterprises, and that the program had allowed Chinese firms to win market share at the expense of foreign competitors.
The office also pointed out that China had not followed through in rolling out provisions of the trade deal signed with Mr. Trump in his first term, including commitments to open up its agricultural market and protect U.S. intellectual property. Trade data also shows that China fell far short of commitments it made to purchase U.S. goods and services in 2020 and 2021, the report said.