
2 min readUpdated: Jun 3, 2026 10:56 AM IST
The Trump administration on Tuesday proposed imposing additional duties of 10 per cent or 12.5 per cent on imports from 60 countries, including India, for failing to “impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”
Following an investigation, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said that the non-compliance is “unreasonable” and is actionable under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act, which allows the imposition of tariffs or trade restrictions. The Trade Representative has proposed duties on all products of the investigated economies, “except as provided in Annex A to the Federal Register notice”
The USTR suggested imposing 10 per cent tariffs on imports from six countries for their failure to effectively enforce “a prohibition on the importation of goods” produced with forced labour. These are:
- Canada
- Ecuador
- The European Union
- Indonesia
- Mexico
- Pakistan
The other 54 countries could be slapped with 12.5 per cent duties over their failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor:
- Algeria
- Angola
- Argentina
- Australia
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Brazil
- Cambodia
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Dominican Republic
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- India
- Iraq
- Israel
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kuwait
- Libya
- Malaysia
- Morocco
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Nigeria
- Norway
- Oman
- Peru
- Philippines
- Qatar
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Sri Lanka
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Türkiye
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
Why did the Trump administration propose the tariffs?
After the US Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s global tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) in February, his administration said it would pursue alternative legal routes to impose duties.
Section 301 allows the USTR to investigate and take action against unfair trade practices. The federal agency must complete an investigation within 12 months.
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