Trump’s latest ‘forced labour tariffs’: Who’s been hit, how badly?

The Trump administration has rolled out a fresh round of tariffs targeting dozens of US trading partners on allegations that they fail to adequately police forced labour in their supply chains. The levies, ranging from 10 to 12.5 percent, apply to countries and territories representing nearly all US import sources. The timing coincided with the expiration of temporary 10 percent worldwide tariffs that had been introduced after a Supreme Court decision invalidated an earlier tariff framework in February.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer framed the action as overdue enforcement of longstanding labour standards, noting that the United States has maintained a forced labour import ban for nearly a century. According to the administration, the tariffs aim to address both human rights concerns and what it characterises as distortive trade practices that harm workers globally.

The new tariffs operate under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a legal mechanism that grants the president authority to impose sanctions against countries engaging in unjustifiable, unreasonable, or discriminatory trade practices. This statutory basis proved more durable than the International Emergency Economic Powers Act that Trump had previously invoked; the Supreme Court had struck down that approach, forcing refunds to importers. The affected nations span six continents and include major trading partners such as Canada, Mexico, the European Union, China, India, Japan, and numerous others, with Qatar listed among them.

The tariff escalation reflects Trump's broader policy shift away from decades of US trade liberalisation. He has argued that elevated tariffs will stimulate domestic manufacturing and address what he characterises as chronic trade deficits amounting to a national emergency.