US cites forced labor concerns as grounds for new tariffs
New tariffs are designed to reconstruct Trump's global tariffs struck down by Supreme Court
Black News 
The Trump administration has proposed new tariffs of up to 12.5% on imports from 60 economies after determining that they had failed to curb trade in goods made with forced labour, an assertion that was rejected by its trading partners.
The proposal from the US Trade Representative’s office, issued late on Tuesday, comes from a Section 301 unfair trade practices investigation designed to help rebuild US President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs, struck down by a US Supreme Court decision in February.
Despite laws banning them, the products of forced labour are deeply embedded in supply chains across the world.
European lawmakers bristle at the accusation that the region is less effective than the US at curbing the trade in such goods, with one describing the US findings as “utterly absurd”. Business leaders said the US move created more confusion for companies.
The USTR proposed 10% additional duties on imports from Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Taiwan and Britain.
The USTR said all had plans or partial schemes in place.
The trade agency said it would impose additional duties of 12.5% on the remaining 45 countries that it investigated. These include China, India, Nigeria, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand.
“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labour is unacceptable,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.
“This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an uneven playing field.”
The USTR said it would accept public comments on the proposed tariffs and other remedies through July 6, with a public hearing scheduled for July 7.
