The U.S. Trade Representative is proposing tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on a wide range of imports from 60 economies, on the grounds that they’ve failed to block imports of goods produced using forced labor.
Fourteen economies, including Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the European Union, which already have full or partial bans on products made with forced labor or that have pledged to adopt one, would see the lower 10% rate. The remaining 46 would face rates of 12.5%, according to a Federal Register notice. China, Brazil and Australia are among those that would see 12.5% duties.
The proposal exempts a list of goods that includes tomatoes, oranges, coffee, cocoa, bananas, most tropical fruit and spices, and beef products, as well as Canadian and Mexican products that comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
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The tariffs are being proposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows USTR to impose tariffs in response to trade policies that are “unreasonable” and burden U.S. commerce. The proposal follows nearly three months of USTR investigations into whether those economies do enough to block imports of goods made with forced labor.
“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a release Tuesday. "This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field. We will no longer tolerate this disparity.”
USTR will take comments on the proposed tariffs until July 6, and plans to hold a hearing on July 7.
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