On March 12, 2026, the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) launched Section 301 investigations into 60 trade partners to determine whether they have failed to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor. The investigations, conducted pursuant to Section 301of the Trade Act of 1974, included China, the European Union, India, and Mexico. A full list of the trade partners involved is provided in Annex A of the Federal Register Notice of Initiation.
U.S. law prohibits the importation of goods mined, produced, or manufactured in whole or in part with forced labor, and it is, in the USTR’s words, “universally recognized under international law that forced labor is a practice that should not be tolerated.” Even so, the USTR notice stated that the use of forced labor persists despite this consensus and that the “failure to prevent trade in products produced with forced labor may negatively affect U.S. commerce.”
Under Section 301, actionable matters include acts, policies, and practices of a foreign country that are unreasonable or discriminatory and that burden or restrict U.S. commerce. A possible response is the imposition of tariffs and non-tariff measures on trade partners found to engage in unfair trade practices. Upon initiating the investigations, the USTR was required to seek consultations with the trade partners subject to the investigations. It also sought and received public comments until late April 2026. See USTR Docket No. 2026-0133 if interested in reviewing any such comments. The USTR Section 301 Committee also held a public hearing to allow further input.
On June 2, 2026, the USTR issued its formal report on the investigations, finding that: (i) 54 of the investigated economies have failed to impose a legal prohibition on the importation of goods produced wholly or in part with forced labor and to effectively enforce such a prohibition; and (ii) six economies have failed to effectively enforce a forced labor import prohibition. The USTR accordingly found that each investigated economy’s failure to impose and effectively enforce a forced labor import prohibition is unreasonable because it:
- undermines the universal aim of eliminating forced labor;
- permits firms that avail themselves of forced labor to produce goods at a lower cost and thereby distort market conditions for firms that do not use forced labor;
- undermines the profitability of firms that do not use forced labor; and
- contributes to the circumvention of existing forced labor import prohibitions.
As a result, the USTR determined that these failures burden or restrict U.S. commerce by subjecting U.S. producers to unfair competition from forced labor goods in both export markets and the U.S. market, and by displacing foreign goods produced without forced labor or forced labor inputs from their domestic market to the United States and other markets.
In issuing the report, the USTR simultaneously issued its Notice of Determination. While acknowledging that some trading partners “have taken initial steps to prevent the importation of forced labor goods, including through USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) and commitments in Agreements on Reciprocal Trade,” Ambassador Jamieson Greer stated that each trading partner “must do more to ensure that trade does not perversely encourage and entrench forced labor globally.” In issuing its determination, the USTR proposed that appropriate action would include applying tariffs as follows: (i) for economies that impose a forced labor import prohibition; have taken on commitments related to forced labor import prohibitions through an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade; or have imposed a partial regime with the effect of preventing the importation of certain forced labor goods, a proposed additional duty rate of 10%; (ii) for all other economies, a proposed duty rate of 12.5%.
Annex A to the Notice of Determination sets forth proposed exemptions for certain goods, including all articles and parts currently subject to Section 232 tariffs and raw materials that, if subjected to the proposed additional tariffs, could lead to the unavailability of domestic supply. The proposed exempt Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) list in Annex A also includes products that could cause economy-wide disruptions if subject to the proposed additional tariffs, as well as certain products that cannot be grown or produced in sufficient quantities in the United States or obtained from other sources. The proposed exemptions further include informational materials (e.g., books), donations, and accompanied baggage, as well as articles for which additional tariffs may not contribute substantially to the elimination of the investigated acts, policies, and practices described in the Notice of Determination.
The USTR accepted public comments on the proposed actions and held a public hearing on July 7, 2026. See USTR Docket No. 2026-0265 if interested in reviewing any such comments. Statutorily, a final determination is due within 12 months of initiation; however, the USTR is expected to present its final recommendations to President Donald Trump before the end of August 2026. Because the USTR’s Notice of Determination did not propose any non-tariff remedies, it is expected that, while public comment may alter the final listing of HTSUS subheadings in Annex A, additional tariff rates will be applied to the 60 trade partners, in part replacing the IEEPA tariffs that were imposed on numerous countries but recently ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. For more information on these IEEPA duties and the ruling, see this related SmarTrade article.
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