The Trump administration is proposing tariffs of 10% or more on products from dozens of major trading partners following an investigation 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 several other countries will face additional 10% tariffs for allegedly failing to implement a ban on the importation of forced labor.
A surcharge of 12.5% will 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 labor is unacceptable. This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an uneven playing field,” USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer said in a statement.
Get the latest national news
Get the latest Canadian news in your inbox as it happens, so you never miss a trending story.
He added that “each of our trading partners must do more to ensure that trade does not perversely encourage and reinforce forced labor globally.”
The new fees will not take effect immediately. They are subject to public comment and review.
The investigation into the alleged failure to prevent imports of goods allegedly made from forced labor was conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The strategy would allow US President Donald Trump to circumvent limits on his tariffs imposed by the Supreme Court.
The report defined forced labor as “work or service required of a person under the threat of some penalty for non-performance and for which the worker does not offer himself voluntarily”.
The Supreme Court ruled in February that Trump had exceeded his authority by using another law – the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 – to impose sweeping tariffs on US trading partners.
&copies 2026 The Canadian Press
