The United States has launched trade probes into 60 economies to determine whether their trade practices involve forced labor. The investigations will determine whether the “acts, policies, and practices of each of these economies related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce,” a statement from the Trade Representative explained.
The investigations are being conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which addresses unfair foreign practices. Countries involved in the investigation include China, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan, India, and others.
A pre-published Federal Register notice states that the investigations are “related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”
The notice explains that U.S. law has “prohibited the importation of goods mined, produced, or manufactured in whole or in part with forced labor.” It adds, “Ending forced labor is a key priority and an economic and national security imperative for the United States.”
“Despite the international consensus against forced labor, governments have failed to impose and effectively enforce measures banning goods produced with forced labor from entering their markets,” Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement. “These investigations will determine whether foreign governments have taken sufficient steps to prohibit the importation of goods produced with forced labor and how the failure to eradicate these abhorrent practices impacts U.S. workers and businesses.”
