US Targets 60 Economies With Forced-Labor Tariffs

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The Trump administration proposes 10%–12.5% Section 301 tariffs on 60 trading partners over forced labor failures, escalating the global trade war and rebuilding its legal tariff architecture after a Supreme Court setback.

Lead

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) proposed additional tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 economies on June 3, 2026, citing each country's failure to prohibit or effectively enforce a ban on goods manufactured with forced labor. The action, grounded in Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, represents the Trump administration's most expansive attempt to rebuild its tariff architecture since the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled its previous framework in February.

What Happened

The USTR's determination found that all 60 targeted economies had failed to impose or effectively enforce prohibitions on forced labor-related imports, creating what the agency described as an "unlevel playing field" for American workers.

The proposal establishes two tiers. Sixteen economies — including Canada, Mexico, the European Union, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Ecuador, Indonesia, Pakistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Malaysia — face a 10% additional duty for having enacted at least a partial prohibition on forced-labor goods. All other economies — including China, Japan, India, South Korea, Brazil, and Switzerland — face a 12.5% levy for having no such prohibition in place.

Written comments on the proposed tariffs are due by July 6, 2026, with USTR's Section 301 committee scheduled to hold public hearings on July 7.

Legal Architecture

The Section 301 move is a deliberate legal recalibration. The Trump administration's original tariff campaign — launched on "Liberation Day" and covering most U.S. trading partners — was struck down by the Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling in February 2026. In Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, the Court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not grant the president authority to impose tariffs, affirming that the Constitution vests that power in Congress. More than $160 billion in IEEPA-based tariffs were declared unlawfully collected, with refund proceedings remanded to the Court of International Trade.

Following the ruling, the administration imposed a 10% global baseline duty under Section 122 of the Trade Act — authority the high court did not address — but those levies are set to expire in July 2026. The new Section 301 investigations, launched in March and yielding findings on June 3, offer a more durable statutory pathway. Section 301 authorizes tariffs and other sanctions against countries found to engage in unjustifiable, unreasonable, or discriminatory trade practices and has withstood legal scrutiny through prior administrations.

International Response

The scope and framing of the new tariff regime drew swift pushback. An EU spokesperson described the reasoning behind the US tariffs as "unjustified," signaling that Brussels is preparing a formal response through WTO mechanisms and bilateral channels.

Japan and South Korea — U.S. security allies now also facing 12.5% levies — are expected to escalate diplomatic pressure through formal consultations, adding strain to alliance relationships already tested by earlier rounds of U.S. tariff action.

Strategic Context

The breadth of the Section 301 forced labor investigations is historically unprecedented. Launched in March 2026, the simultaneous opening of cases against more than 60 economies reflects a strategy to identify legal frameworks capable of surviving judicial review while maintaining the broad economic pressure originally sought through IEEPA.

Forced labor as a trade policy rationale carries domestic political advantages: it frames tariff action in human rights terms rather than nakedly protectionist ones, potentially attracting bipartisan support and complicating international condemnation. The U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act — which bans imports from China's Xinjiang region absent clear evidence of non-forced production — established the legislative precedent for this trade-labor linkage.

Targeting allies and adversaries simultaneously signals the administration's intent to apply maximum leverage across the global trade war, seeking concessions on trade imbalances, market access, and supply-chain transparency under a human rights rationale.

What Comes Next

With Section 122 tariffs expiring in July, the administration faces a compressed timeline. If Section 301 tariffs are finalized following the July comment and hearing process, they could provide a replacement framework before Section 122 authority lapses. Any economy mounting a legal challenge would shorten that window further, though Section 301's statutory grounding is considerably stronger than IEEPA in this context.

Congressional reaction will be a key variable. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed interest in reasserting legislative trade authority following the Supreme Court's February ruling; any legislation clarifying or curtailing executive tariff powers could reshape the landscape before these proposals are finalized.

Outlook

The USTR's Section 301 forced labor tariff proposal marks a pivotal escalation in the ongoing global trade war, simultaneously targeting 60 economies and demonstrating the administration's resolve to maintain broad tariff pressure through alternative legal mechanisms even as IEEPA authority has collapsed. With hearings set for July 7, the coming weeks will determine whether the administration can cement a durable US tariffs regime — or whether fresh legal and diplomatic challenges will again constrain its trade strategy.