The United States has threatened roughly 60 trading partners with new punitive tariffs, citing their failure to prevent imports of products made with forced labour. The proposal, announced by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) late Tuesday local time, marks a new front in the Trump administration's trade policy after the Supreme Court struck down its earlier tariff regime in February.

The tariff proposal

The USTR report lists 54 economies that, according to Washington, have not imposed a clear ban on such imports. These countries, including Switzerland, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom, would face a 12.5 percent tariff. Another six — Canada, Ecuador, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, and the European Union — are deemed to have bans that are not effectively enforced and would face a 10 percent tariff. Products such as semiconductors, coffee, beef, and certain fruits would be exempt, as would goods from Canada and Mexico that comply with the North American free trade agreement.

“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labour is unacceptable. This creates a situation where American workers are forced to compete globally on an uneven playing field.”

Legal and procedural path

The tariffs are not immediate. Written objections can be submitted until July 6, with a public hearing scheduled for July 7. The administration is grounding the measures in the Trade Act of 1974 and efforts to combat forced labour, after the Supreme Court ruled in February that Trump could not rely on emergency powers for earlier tariffs. In mid-May, an appeals court temporarily stayed a lower court ruling that had deemed Trump's global tariffs unlawful, allowing a 10 percent levy on importers to remain in place for now.

Targeted economies and reactions

The list spans Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe. Switzerland, an export-reliant nation with a 21 billion CHF market in the US, is grouped alongside China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) had already rejected the accusations in April, according to director Helene Budliger Artieda. The report lands as Bern and Washington are actively negotiating a settlement to the trade dispute. India is also in the crosshairs, with Washington linking the 12.5 percent tariff threat to cotton supply chains tied to China. India's trade ministry has not yet commented.

Broader trade offensive

The forced labour investigation, which began on March 12, is one of several USTR probes. A separate Section 301 investigation into excess industrial capacity in 16 trading partners, including China, is also expected to yield findings soon. On Monday, the US proposed a 25 percent tariff on many Brazilian goods following a probe into digital trade practices and preferential tariffs.

“We will no longer tolerate this inequality.”