The U.S. has proposed tariffs of at least 10% on many trading partners following an investigation into goods allegedly produced by forced labor.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a report released Tuesday that products of Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, the European Union and the United Kingdom, among other countries, would face a 10% duty after its probe.
A 12.5% rate would be imposed on other major economies such as China, Japan, India, South Korea and Switzerland “that have failed to impose and effectively enforce a forced labor import prohibition,” according to a notice by the USTR.
“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,” said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
The new proposed tariffs are subject to public comment.
The report defines “forced labor” as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer himself voluntarily.”
Greer said last month that President Trump’s global 10% tariff—imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974—could potentially be reimposed after it expires in July. He said then that his agency remains “quite focused” on the investigations that will inform the tariffs under Section 301 of the same law meant to replace the global 10% levy.
Just weeks ago, EU negotiators said they reached a provisional deal to remove some tariffs on U.S. imports as part of the bloc’s trade deal signed last summer.
The Trump administration this week proposed a 25% tariff on some Brazilian goods as part of an investigation into what the U.S. calls unfair trade practices.
Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com
