USTR Announces Proposed Section 301 Tariffs on 60 Economies
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Today, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the acts, policies, and practices of 60 economies related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor are unreasonable and burden or restrict U.S. commerce.
As a result, USTR has determined that these actions are actionable under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act.
This determination begins the process for public comments and hearings regarding the proposed imposition of additional tariffs on products imported from 60 economies that do business with the United States. The hearings are expected to take place in the coming weeks.
The proposed tariffs range from 10% to 12.5% and would take effect after the current Section 122 tariffs expire on July 24, 2026.
For economies that currently impose a forced labor import prohibition—including Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, and Pakistan—along with economies that have undertaken commitments related to forced labor import prohibitions in their respective Agreements on Reciprocal Trade, including Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan, USTR has proposed an additional duty rate of 10%.
The United Kingdom, which has implemented a partial regime aimed at preventing the importation of certain forced labor goods, is also included in the proposed 10% tariff category.
For all other economies that have failed to impose and effectively enforce a forced labor import prohibition, USTR has proposed an additional duty rate of 12.5%.
As with previous tariff actions, certain products are exempt and are listed in the Annex accompanying the proposal. Flowers are not included among the exempted products listed in the Annex.
AFIA will continue to monitor developments as the public comment and hearing process moves forward and will share additional information as it becomes available.
