India has strongly rejected allegations by the US Trade Representative in its investigations on excess structural capacity and production involving several countries, including India, asserting that the initiation notice has failed to provide “cogent rationale” to substantiate the claims.
India requests that the USTR issue a negative determination with respect to India and terminate the investigation against it, according to a submission from New Delhi to the USTR.
On March 11, the US announced initiation of investigations against its trading partners, including India, China, Japan and the EU, to look into and address “unfair foreign practices” that adversely impact American manufacturing.
Section 301 investigations explained
United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer announced the initiation of a probe regarding the “acts, policies, and practices” of various economies under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974, relating to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors.
The economies subject to these investigations are Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
India rejects allegations outright
The Government of India in response to the notice issued by the US Trade Representative (USTR) on the initiation of Section 301 investigation relating to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors, “firmly denies all allegations made in the initiation notice”.
“The initiation Notice is premised on aggregate macroeconomic indicators, without identifying any specific act, policy or practice of the Government of India that could be considered ‘unreasonable or discriminatory’ and that ‘burdens or restricts United States commerce’ as required by Section 301(b) of the Act,” according to the submission made by India.
No evidence, says India
The notice, it said, provides no cogent rationale or prima facie evidence to substantiate its allegation that India has “structural excess capacity” in its major industries, leading to a trade surplus with the United States.
“India submits that the present investigation does not satisfy the requirements for the initiation of this investigation pursuant to Sections 301 and 302 of the Trade Act of 1974. India calls upon the USTR to make a negative determination and terminate the investigation forthwith,” it said.
Bilateral talks preferred route
It added that since India and the US have initiated a process of negotiating a Bilateral Trade Agreement, any trade concerns should be addressed within the framework of the trade negotiations and not through unilateral measures.
“India remains willing to constructively engage with the United States in the underlying investigation, including any consultation,” it said.
Forced labour probe also challenged
Similarly, in its response to another investigations launched by the USTR on March 12 against number of nations including India on failure to take action on forced labour, India has submited that the probe does not satisfy the legal requirements for the initiation.
“India requests the USTR to make a negative determination and terminate the investigation against India. Additionally, India remains willing to constructively engage with the United States in the underlying investigation, including any consultation,” according to India’s submission.
On behalf of the government of india, the submissions have been made by the commerce and industry ministry.
On March 12, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) launched a Section 301 probe, covering 60 economies, including India and China.
The investigation will determine whether acts, policies, and practices of each of these economies related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labour are unreasonable or discriminatory, and burden or restrict US commerce.
On March 11, the USTR launched a separate Section 301 trade investigation, targeting policies and industrial practices of 16 economies, including India and China.
It has stated that these are public non-confidential summary of the Government of India’s written submission filed with USTR. The full submission is filed separately and marked as confidential.
Published on April 15, 2026