The United States announced on Tuesday 2 June its intention to impose additional tariffs on 60 economies, including China, the European Union, Japan, India and Mexico, AFP reported on Wednesday 3 June.
The reason given by the US administration is that the targeted countries are not doing enough to combat imports of goods produced using forced labour. This proposal stems from the findings of an investigation launched by Washington last March, based on a law dating back to 1974.
In detail: Forty-five countries that have not enacted legislation on goods produced through forced labour could face a 12.5% surcharge on their exports to the United States. Economies that already have a ban on imports of goods produced using forced labour, but whose enforcement efforts are deemed insufficient by the Americans, would face additional tariffs of 10%.
The European Union, which in 2024 adopted a regulation banning goods produced through forced labour (see EUROPE 13397/7), said on Wednesday that it “fully shares the concerns of the United States regarding forced labour”, while nevertheless considering that “tariffs imposed on these grounds are unjustified”.
The European Commission “will carefully analyse the preliminary findings of the investigation and will continue engaging with the US administration”, said Olof Gill, spokesperson at the European Commission, noting that the two sides committed to combating forced labour under the Turnberry accord (see EUROPE 13871/1). (Original version in French by Juliette Verdes)