U.S. imposes new tariffs on 60 economies citing forced labor, drawing rebukes from trade partners

Published Jul 24, 12:09 PM UTC

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative imposed new Section 301 tariffs on 60 economies, citing failure to ban forced labor imports. The tariffs are 10% for partners with import prohibitions and 12.5% for those without, covering 99.4% of U.S. imports. Trading partners including Australia, Brazil, Chile, and Canada rejected the forced labor rationale, calling the tariffs arbitrary and unjustified. Australia noted its strong anti-slavery measures, while Brazil threatened to seek other markets. Analysts suggest the investigation is less about labor standards and more about pressuring countries to adopt Washington's ban on Chinese forced labor goods and rebuilding a tariff regime after the Supreme Court struck down emergency-powers tariffs. Most partners signaled they would continue negotiating rather than retaliate. The tariffs replace a temporary 10% global tariff that expired July 24.