Trump turns to forced-labour claims in new tariff push
The US is using Section 301 investigations to propose new tariffs on 60 economies after the Supreme Court rejected an earlier tariff strategy.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
President Donald Trump’s administration is trying to revive its tariff programme through a trade law focused on foreign commercial practices, according to the US Trade Representative. The shift matters because trade analysts told Al Jazeera the legal route could be harder to overturn than the emergency-powers approach the Supreme Court rejected in February.
The USTR said on June 2 that it was using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to pursue new duties against 60 economies over what it described as failures to stop imports made with forced labour. Because the European Union is listed as one economy, the proposal would affect more than 80 countries, Al Jazeera reported.
The proposed duties would add as much as 12.5 percent to imports from targeted economies. The USTR said the countries either failed to enforce bans on forced-labour imports or lacked adequate restrictions, creating what it called burdens on US commerce.
How the proposal is structured
Section 301 lets Washington investigate foreign practices it considers unfair, discriminatory or harmful to US trade, and then impose remedies such as tariffs or import restrictions. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the administration viewed weak enforcement against forced-labour goods as unfair to American workers.
The USTR said it opened the investigations in March and later found that each of the 60 economies had not effectively enforced a forced-labour import prohibition. It proposed an additional 10 percent tariff for Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, the European Union, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
For the other 45 economies, the USTR said it plans a 12.5 percent surcharge. That group includes Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Korea and Vietnam, according to the agency.
The agency said interested parties may file written comments by July 6, with hearings scheduled for July 7. Those procedural steps mark a slower process than Trump’s earlier use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which the Supreme Court said in February exceeded presidential authority.
Trade experts see a legal shift
Madeline Chalecki, assistant director at the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center, told Al Jazeera that Section 301 gives the administration a more durable legal foundation because it was designed for trade disputes and has been used against China since 2018 under both Trump and President Joe Biden. She said the administration is giving up speed in exchange for stronger legal footing.
Ajay Srivastava, founder of the India-based Global Trade Research Initiative, told Al Jazeera that Washington lost leverage after the Supreme Court ruling and now appears to be using Section 301 as a pressure tool in trade talks. Shantanu Singh and Vikram Naik, India-based international trade lawyers, told Al Jazeera the approach faces less legal risk because Congress gave the USTR broad discretion, though they said the pace and summary nature of the process have raised concerns.
Trump imposed a temporary 10 percent global tariff the day after the Supreme Court decision, according to Al Jazeera. That measure is set to expire on July 24.
Targets push back
The European Union has questioned its inclusion, saying it is implementing its own forced-labour import ban. Olof Gill, a European Commission deputy chief spokesperson for trade and economic security, said the EU would review the findings and keep talking with the US administration, while considering tariffs on those grounds unjustified.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson He Yongqian accused Washington of using forced-labour concerns as a pretext for unilateral restrictions, according to Al Jazeera. India’s commerce ministry said New Delhi remains engaged with Washington in the Section 301 proceedings while also working on a framework trade agreement announced on February 2, 2026.
Analysts told Al Jazeera the tariffs may encourage countries to expand trade with partners other than the US. Singh and Naik pointed to the EU-Mercosur agreement and the EU-India deal as examples of governments seeking broader trade options, while Chalecki said a successful US push could speed a shift in supply chains and investment away from reliance on the American market.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.