US proposes tariffs of at least 10% over forced labour practices

The US has announced plans to impose tariffs of at least 10 per cent on dozens of countries following a probe into forced labour practices, in the first significant effort by the White House to resurrect levies since its defeat at the US Supreme Court this year.

The Office of the US Trade Representative said it intended to impose tariffs on 60 countries for not doing enough to prevent the import of goods using forced labour, adding that it left US workers competing on an “unlevel playing field”.

China, the EU, India, Japan and the UK are among the major economies targeted by the proposal, which would set tariffs of between 10 per cent and 12.5 per cent.

Setting out the proposal late on Tuesday, US trade representative Jamieson Greer said: “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.”

Donald Trump’s administration vowed to resume its trade war after America’s top court in April ruled that most of the tariffs announced on ‘liberation day’ last year were illegal.

The proposal from the USTR relies on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the White House to open investigations into the practices of trading partners.

Under the Trade Act, the planned levies cannot be imposed immediately and are subject to public comment.