U.S. proposes tariffs on Canada, other partners over forced labour concerns

The Trump administration is proposing that tariffs of 10% or more be imposed on products from dozens of major trading partners following a probe into imports of goods allegedly made with forced labour.

The report released early Wednesday by the U.S. Trade Representative said Canada, Mexico, Taiwan and the United Kingdom and some other countries would face 10% additional tariffs for allegedly failing to enforce a forced labour import ban.

A 12.5% additional tariff would be imposed on China, Japan, India, South Korea, Brazil and Switzerland and dozens of other countries.

“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labour is unacceptable. This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field,” USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer said in a statement.

He added that “each of our trading partners must do more to ensure that trade does not perversely encourage and entrench forced labour globally.”

The new tariffs would not take effect immediately. They are subject to public comment and review.

The investigation into alleged failure to prevent imports of goods allegedly made by forced labour was conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The strategy would enable U.S. President Donald Trump to skirt limits on his tariffs imposed by the Supreme Court.

The report defined forced labor as “work or service exacted from a person under the menace of any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer himself voluntarily.”

The Supreme Court ruled in February that Trump had overstepped his authority by using a different law – the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 – to impose sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners.