Trump administration floats tariffs on 60 trading partners — including China, U.K., EU — after forced labor probes
The Trump administration has unveiled proposed tariffs of 10% or more on dozens of countries accused of failing to crack down on forced labor, hitting some of the U.S.'s largest trading partners — as the administration tries to rebuild its system of global tariffs after the Supreme Court struck them down earlier this year.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer's office announced the planned tariffs late Tuesday, after launching investigations into 60 trading partners under a law designed to address unfair trade practices. The tariffs still need to go through a comment process before taking effect.
The announcement lists 60 trading partners that have allegedly "failed to impose and effectively enforce" rules prohibiting imports of goods made with forced labor.
Most of them are facing a 12.5% proposed tariff rate on U.S. imports, including China, Japan, South Korea and Brazil. A lower 10% rate applies to 16 trading partners — including the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, Taiwan and Argentina — that Greer's office says are taking some steps or have made commitments to block forced labor.
Some goods are exempt, including beef, tomatoes and coffee. The office also said it is considering a rule to allow some textiles to enter the United States at a reduced tariff rate if countries import an equal quantity of American textiles.
Greer's office argued the rules are necessary because many other countries — unlike the U.S. — lack strong prohibitions on imports that are made using forced labor. As a result, firms in those countries could profit off of forced labor or produce their goods at a lower cost, making American companies that aren't allowed to use goods with forced labor less competitive.
"The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable. This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field," Greer said in a statement issued late Tuesday. "We will no longer tolerate this disparity."
Tariffs have been a core part of President Trump's economic agenda. He argues duties on imports can reduce trade deficits and quell what he views as unfair trade practices, though many economists warn that tariffs cause higher prices and lower economic growth.
But the president's sweeping country-by-country tariffs — rolled out last year — were struck down in February by the Supreme Court, which ruled that an emergency powers law invoked by the government did not include the authority to impose tariffs.
Since then, Mr. Trump has sought to resurrect his tariff system using other laws. The tariffs unveiled on Tuesday hinge on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which gives the government the power to investigate alleged unfair trade practices and impose tariffs and other restrictions. Greer's office floated a separate set of 301 investigations in March, looking into 16 countries for "structural excess capacity," or manufacturing more goods than they can consume.
The president also used another provision of the 1974 trade law, Section 122, to temporarily impose 10% tariffs on most imports almost immediately after the Supreme Court's ruling. That law only allows tariffs for up to 150 days in response to "large and serious … balance-of-payments deficits," and a trade court ruled last month that the tariffs were invalid.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has suggested that those temporary tariffs could eventually be replaced by Section 301 duties like the ones announced on Tuesday.
"It's my strong belief that the tariff rates will be back to their old rate within five months," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC in early March, calling laws like Section 301 slower-moving but legally "more robust."
