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Forced-labour tariffs renewed
The Trump administration announced new forced-labour tariffs on 60 trading partners, replacing an expiring temporary 10% global duty, with the United States imposing levies ranging from 10% to 12.5% and taking effect on July 24, 2026.
“- Published The US is imposing new tariffs on around 60 trading partners accounting for the vast majority of its imports over claims they failed to properly stop forced labour”
The U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the action was taken at President Donald Trump’s direction under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, and he framed it as correcting “a human rights abuse and a distortive trade practice to improve the welfare of workers everywhere.”
The Hindu reported that the 10% tariff rate applies to 17 countries including India, Canada, the U.K., Bangladesh and Pakistan, while earlier India was bracketed in countries attracting 12.5% tariffs.
The Straits Times said the new tariffs were announced on July 23 and would replace the expiring global duty rolled out earlier in 2026, with the United States targeting countries that have implemented a forced labour prohibition at the lower 10% rate and others at 12.5%.
The Globe and Mail reported that the U.S. duties were announced just hours before the previous tariff tool was set to expire, and it said Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom were among the countries getting hit with a 10% tariff while other nations faced a 12.5% levy.
Greer’s message, disputes
Greer told the Straits Times that “The United States has had a forced labour import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” as the U.S. unveiled the duties.
The Globe and Mail reported that Greer said “President Trump recognizes that decades of moral suasion have not eradicated forced labour from global supply chains,” while the U.S. trade office said “that Canada has failed to effectively enforce its forced labour import prohibition.”
India contested the investigations, and The Hindu reported that India “has contested both the investigations initiated by the USTR and insisted that these issues can be discussed as part of the bilateral trade agreement that is under discussion.”
The Hindu also said India amended its foreign trade policy on June 14 to prohibit the import of goods produced using forced labour, after a Federal Note took note of that adoption following the unveiling of the proposed tariffs in June.
The Straits Times added that the Trump administration said economies that have implemented a forced labour prohibition are hit with the lower 10-per-cent rate, including Canada, the EU and the United Kingdom, while China, Japan, South Korea and dozens of others were deemed to deserve the higher 12.5 per cent tariff.
What’s at stake next
The new tariff regime is set against the backdrop of the U.S. Supreme Court striking down Trump’s earlier “reciprocal tariffs,” and The Hindu said the administration initiated the two investigations after the Supreme Court, in February, dismissed last year’s “reciprocal tariffs” using emergency powers as illegal.
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The Straits Times reported that the Trump administration moved swiftly to rebuild the President’s tariff wall after the Supreme Court struck down a host of his duties in February, and it said the new measures were proposed after a months-long investigation and were considered more resistant to legal challenges than earlier moves.
The Globe and Mail said the U.S. trade office’s report Thursday cited Canada’s failure to effectively enforce its forced labour import prohibition, while it also described Canada’s legislation and a bill C-35 that would create a public list of products linked to forced labour in specific regions.
The Straits Times said goods already facing Trump’s sector-specific tariffs—like steel and aluminium—would not be impacted, and it reported that certain energy products and fertilisers would be exempt alongside goods covered by the US-Mexico-Canada free trade pact.
The Hindu reported that the U.S. imposed 10% tariffs on goods purchased from India and 16 other countries over forced labour, and it said the USTR statement described the action as final action under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 at President Donald Trump’s direction.
