WASHINGTON — The United States has announced new tariffs on dozens of countries following a probe into imports of goods allegedly made with forced labor.
The report released early Wednesday by the US Trade Representative said Canada, Mexico, Taiwan and the United Kingdom and some other countries and territories would face 10% additional tariffs for allegedly failing to enforce a forced labor import ban.
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 tariff decision comes after the US began an investigation in March into the 60 trading partners, which comprise 99.4% of US imports.
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 US government’s stance is that trading with countries which buy things made with forced labor is unfair on the Americans.
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 investigation 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 labor 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 labor 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.
A UK government spokesperson said: “We’re tackling forced labor in the UK and in global supply chains to ensure UK businesses are not complicit in forced labor 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 labor.
“There is no so-called forced labor 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 penalize 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.”
Source: Saudi Gazette