WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is moving to increase tariffs on 60 countries that have not blocked imports tied to forced labor, just as the existing 10% global duties are scheduled to lapse Friday.
Senior administration officials said Thursday that nations already taking steps to enforce a forced labor import ban will face 10% duties. Countries that have not acted will be subject to a higher 12.5% import tax, with the new rates set to begin at 12:01 a.m. on July 24.
“The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” said Ambassador Jamieson Greer.
Greer said the move is intended to address “both a human rights abuse and distortive trade practice” while helping improve conditions for workers around the world.
According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, the 10% rate will apply to Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and the UK.
The office said products from European Union countries, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Switzerland will face either 10% or 12.5% rates, depending on the goods involved.
The broad tariff action underscores the Trump administration’s continued push to expand its trade policy toolkit, including efforts to structure new duties in ways that can survive legal challenges after the Supreme Court struck down last year’s “Liberation Day” levies.
An administration official described the measure, pursued under a Section 301 framework, as a way to promote tougher labor rights enforcement overseas. “It will restore fairness in the global market for American workers,” the official said, while also pushing trading partners to help remove forced labor from global supply chains.
“For nearly a century, the United States has prohibited imports made in whole or in part with forced labor,” the official added.
Oil and gas won’t be subject to the new tariffs, which are being introduced into the Federal Register following an investigation of at least 60 countries.
The duties are being brought under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, just as President Trump’s blanket 10% tariffs under Section 122 are set to expire after midnight Thursday.
The official said there would be no “stacking” of the Section 301 duties on top of ongoing tariffs like Section 232.
Trump had announced the Section 122 tariffs shortly after the Supreme Court struck down his baseline 10% tariff rate under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) on Feb. 20.
The trade announcement follows the president’s decision to tariff Canada earlier this week at a rate of 50% on certain goods.
