Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced proposed tariffs on 60 countries it alleges have failed to enforce bans on forced labor. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
June 3 (UPI) -- The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has proposed new tariffs of up to 12% on 60 countries it accuses of allowing forced labor.
The move targets many trade partners of the United States, including China, the European Union and Japan.
The decision would add the tariffs on countries it alleges failed to enforce a ban on forced labor-related imports, which has caused an "unlevel playing field" for American workers. It would put a 10% tariff on economies with a full or partial ban on forced labor and 12.5% on all others under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in a press release.
"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," Greer said in a statement. "We will no longer tolerate this disparity. Some trading partners have taken initial steps to prevent the importation of forced labor goods, including through USMCA and commitments in Agreements on Reciprocal Trade. However, each of our trading partners must do more to ensure that trade does not perversely encourage and entrench forced labor globally."
