Japan and a host of other countries are being investigated by the United States for unfair trade practices related to excess capacity and could be subject to additional tariffs depending on the results of the investigation.

The move, announced by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Wednesday in a statement, comes after tariffs core to U.S. President Trump¡¯s trade strategy were declared illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The other jurisdictions being investigated are Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

¡°The United States will no longer sacrifice its industrial base to other countries that may be exporting their problems with excess capacity and production to us,¡± Greer said in the statement. ¡°This overproduction displaces existing U.S. domestic production or prevents investment and expansion in U.S. manufacturing production that otherwise would have been brought online.¡±

Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the law under which the investigations are being conducted, requires the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to evaluate whether trade practices in other countries are unfair or discriminatory. The president can impose tariffs or implement nontariff measures based on the findings.

The statute has been used in the past by the Trump administration and the administration of President Joe Biden when imposing tariffs on China.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Feb. 20 that Trump had exceeded his authority in the use of emergency powers to impose ¡°reciprocal¡± tariffs. The Trump administration quickly moved to impose 10% duties under a different law, Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to levy tariffs of up to 15% for a maximum of 150 days, unless extended by Congress.

Greer said he hoped to conclude the Section 301 investigations before the Section 122 tariffs expire in July, Reuters reported.

In a trade deal struck last July, Japan agreed to measures to increase certain U.S. imports and committed $550 billion to key technologies and industries in the U.S. in exchange for lower tariffs.

The U.S. agreed that pharmaceuticals and semiconductors would be charged tariffs no higher than the lowest rate charged on the same imports from other countries, and that aircraft from Japan would not be subject to duties.

A statement issued by Japan and the United States in September outlining the agreement did not mention potential tariffs under Section 301.