US Sets New Forced-Labor Duties as Trump Rebuilds Tariff Wall

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Greer is spearheading Trump’s redesigned trade policy, targeting unfair practices abroad using more legally tested statutes that require months of procedures and public engagement. The more deliberative approach stands in contrast to the immediacy and unpredictability of Trump’s tariff barrages through much of 2025.

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Still, that may not stop some importers from challenging the new duties in court. 

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Saddling American importers with costs carries risks politically for Trump and his fellow Republicans, less than four months from midterm elections where the focus for Democrats is the elevated cost of living. That pressure is intensifying as the Iran war makes energy, food and other commodities more expensive.

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Blake Harden, a trade expert with the consultancy Ernst & Young, said Trump isn’t finished with tariffs or disrupting the status quo. 

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Much ‘Uncertainty’

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“There’s still a lot of uncertainty hanging out there. We still have the opportunity for a lot of tariffs this year,” she said. “Prior to this week there was sort of just a bit of a lull and maybe it felt like there was more certainty than there is. There’s this thing I keep telling folks: There’s a lot to come still as we get into this year.”

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USTR proposed the latest duties following a probe under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. That report recommended a 12.5% duty for countries deemed to lack laws that ban imports produced with forced labor. A 10% import tax was recommended for products from economies that have such bans in place but don’t sufficiently enforce them, or have committed to doing so.

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Countries from India and to Norway have pushed back against the allegations. In Canada, a bill introduced in June is designed to strengthen government’s “ability to identify, intercept and prohibit goods linked to forced labour at the border, while providing certainty and transparency for businesses operating in or trading with Canada,” according to a public filing in the case.

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The White House’s decision comes on the heels of a July 15 announcement that the US, also invoking Section 301, will begin charging importers a 25% tariff on imports of certain goods from Brazil following an investigation alleging that the country engaged in unfair trade practices.

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Explainer: Why Trump’s New Tariff Plan Focuses on Forced Labor

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The raft of 301 investigations includes a review of US trading partners’ excess manufacturing capacity, though its unclear when the findings of that probe will be released, or whether any future duties from that investigation would be stacked on top of those proposed under the forced labor investigation.

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Greer said recently that the excess capacity probe is taking longer than the investigation into forced labor. “We’re trying to make sure that we’re actually living up to the letter of the law,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television last week.

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This week, Trump proposed tariffs on Canadian goods under a never-before-used trade authority — Section 338 — though those would only affect about 5% of US imports from its northern neighbor and would take effect Aug. 19 depending on how negotiations go.

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Complicating the rollout are several deals the Trump administration negotiated with economies including Japan, South Korea, the UK and the European Union. Greer has said Washington would abide by commitments made in those agreements.

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Earlier on Thursday, Greer lashed out at the EU in a statement, saying a European Commission announcement of a fine against Alphabet Inc.’s Google and a recent “state-backed” loan to Toulouse, France-based Airbus SE risk undermining transatlantic trade stability.