US announces new tariffs over forced labour concerns

3 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleMitchell LabiakBusiness reporter

Getty Images

The US has announced new tariffs of 10-12.5% on dozens of countries accounting for almost all its imports over concerns they are not doing enough to tackle forced labour.

It is the second time President Donald Trump’s administration has announced new import taxes since the US Supreme Court struck down many of his previous duties in February.

The US Trade Department said these countries will face the tariffs because of their failure to address the importing of goods made with forced labour.

The UK said it is tackling forced labour, China denied goods are made with forced labour, and the EU said the tariffs were unjustified.

Meanwhile, an India analyst said the move was a pressure tactic.

The 60 trading partners listed – including the UK, the EU, Canada, India and Japan – account for almost all of the goods sold to the US.

The US government’s stance is that trading with countries which buy things made with forced labour is unfair on the US.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said it “creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field”.

The tariffs announced have not yet been enforced. The Trump administration will need to go through a process to do so.

The proposed tariffs come after an investigation launched in March by Greer into the 60 trading partners, and whether those countries had failed to act on prohibiting forced labour.

The report into the investigations concluded that 54 of the countries had “failed to impose a legal prohibition on the importation of goods produced wholly or in part with forced labour and to effectively enforce such a prohibition”.

It said six other trading partners – Canada, the EU, Ecuador, Indonesia, Mexico and Pakistan – had “failed to effectively enforce a forced labour import prohibition”.

The trade department said it would impose 10% tariffs on imports from Canada, the EU, Britain, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan.

The remaining 45 countries, which include China and India, would face 12.5% duties.

‘Unjustified’ move

A UK government spokesperson said: “We’re tackling forced labour in the UK and in global supply chains to ensure UK businesses are not complicit in forced labour and human rights violations.

“We continue to engage regularly with the US administration as part of our negotiations, and have made clear the actions we’re taking.”

China said it opposed any form of unilateral tariff, and denied allegations of forced labour.

“There is no so-called forced labour in China, and we oppose using this as an excuse for political manipulation,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

The European Commission said the EU remained committed to the trade deal agreed with the Trump administration last year.

“The EU considers tariffs imposed on these grounds to be unjustified,” a spokesperson said. “On the EU side, we are on track to ensure implementation of our Joint Statement tariff commitments by the end of June.”

Ajay Srivastava of the Delhi-based think tank Global Trade Research Initiative said India should challenge the legal basis of the proposed tariffs, arguing they stretch the scope of Section 301 – a US trade law that allows Washington to investigate and penalise foreign trade practices deemed unfair.

The move appeared to be part of “broader US pressure tactics”, he said, and should be kept separate from ongoing trade negotiations.

“India should reassess its participation and consider stepping away from the bilateral trade agreement, as Malaysia has done,” Srivastava said.

The UK’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner has previously said: “Since the Modern Slavery Act 2015 was passed, much has been achieved to improve our awareness and understanding of modern slavery and human trafficking.”

The tariff decision comes after the US began an investigation in March into the 60 trading partners, which comprise 99.4% of US imports, over the forced labour concerns.

Following its investigation, the US Trade Department said on Tuesday all 60 countries had “failed both to impose a legal prohibition on the importation of goods produced wholly or in part with forced labor (forced labor goods) and to effectively enforce such a prohibition”.

The Trump administration has not announced new tariffs since February when the Supreme Court ruled the so-called ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs imposed by Trump on a slew of countries around the world in April 2025 were unlawful.

Trump called the ruling “terrible” and said the justices who rejected his trade policy were “fools”.

Immediately after the ruling, Trump announced a 10% temporary global tariff but later said it would be 15%.

However, the duty came in at 10%, and it has not been increased. Trump and other officials have said will be raised to 15%.

The measure is due to expire in July, unless extended by Congress.

Additional reporting by Soutik Biswas, India Correspondent, in Delhi.

United StatesCompaniesTrump tariffsGlobal trade

About The Author

admin

See author's posts