US proposes new tariffs on 60 countries, including India and Pakistan over forced labor concerns

Washington: The US Trade Representative on Tuesday proposed new duties targeting 60 economies for alleged failures to act against forced labor, as the Trump administration seeks to rebuild its tariff agenda following legal setbacks.

The proposed tariffs range from 10 percent to 12.5 percent, according to a government filing, and they will undergo a public comment period before a final decision is made.

The move comes months after Washington launched investigations into trading partners including China, the European Union and Japan.

The probes looked into whether they took action against the import of goods made with forced labor, and if this impacted US commerce.

On Tuesday, the USTR said that 54 of the economies “failed to impose and effectively enforce a forced labor import prohibition.”

This group includes India, Israel, China, Vietnam, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.

Six other economies — Canada, Ecuador, the EU, Indonesia, Mexico and Pakistan — were deemed not to have effectively enforced such prohibitions.

“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable,” USTR Jamieson Greer said in a statement.

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“This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field,” he added.

But the proposed tariffs come with various exemptions such as beef, coffee and certain fruits and nuts.

Goods from Canada and Mexico that comply with a North American free trade pact will also be exempt — as will certain textiles and apparel.

The public is invited to provide written comments by July 6, and the USTR will subsequently hold hearings.

After the Supreme Court struck down a swath of President Donald Trump’s tariffs in February, US officials launched the new trade probes as steps toward imposing more lasting duties.

Apart from the investigations on forced labor, the US trade envoy also started probes on excess industrial capacity.