A Comparative Study of China and Japan’s Response to Section 301 Investigations of the United States

Japan is the country with the most Section 301 investigations initiated by the United States. Meanwhile, the ongoing Section 301 investigation case against China is the most complicated and tough case until now. The different responses of Japan and China will be the core theme of this paper. Originally, Japan, little by little, accepted all the demands ofthe United States under American pressure in the semiconductor conflict and then began to resist its unreasonable demands; eventually, Japan forced the United States to withdraw its excessive requirement in auto parts conflict. In the case of China, previous Section 301 investigations were resolved by bilateral or multilateral agreements although it wasdifficult. In this time, the Chinese government has taken a countermeasure against the United States’ bullying, evident from the very beginning. The situation is that China and the United States conducted bilateral negotiations on the stretch. Meanwhile, the United States continued to extend the scope of tariff goods and escalate the tariff rate against China, and the Chinese government immediately published the same amount and tariff rate for imported products from the United States. China and other countries are jointly suffering the sanction from the United States and are trying to restrain the trade hegemony of the United States.