US imposes tariffs on dozens of trade partners over 'forced labour' imports

Greer invoked Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which governs US trade enforcement of practices that burden or restrict American commerce.Earlier this week the Trump administration invoked a different statute, Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, to impose 50% tariffs on products from Canada.On Thursday, the Office of the US Trade Representative said the latest tariffs were being imposed on partners "for their failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour".The new duties apply to the top 60 US trade partners covering 99.4% of US imports, it added.The office said Trump in his second term had made adoption of a ban on imports made with forced labour a "critical" part of reciprocal trade agreements with other nations.It said so far 10 trading partners had agreed to enact such a ban in these agreements, and other countries had enacted bans in response to its investigations in recent weeks.Trading partners that have "made commitments to adopt, and effectively enforce" bans on forced labour imports will be subject to a 10% tariff, while those that have not will have the higher 12.5% rate, the office added.Greer said in his statement he was "encouraged by the trading partners who have moved quickly to adopt forced labour import prohibitions, and look forward to ensuring their effective enforcement".