USTR proposes 10% to 12.5% tariffs in Section 301 investigations of the regulation of imports produced with forced labor

On June 2, 2026, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued the notice of determinations and proposed responsive actions in the Section 301 investigations of "Acts, Policies, and Practices of Various Economies Related to the Failure to Impose and Effectively Enforce a Prohibition on the Importation of Goods Produced with Forced Labor," covering 60 economies.¹ USTR determined that the identified acts, policies, and practices are unreasonable and burden or restrict US commerce, and are thus actionable under Section 301(b), for all 60 economies subject to the investigations.

For the responsive action, USTR is proposing to impose an additional tariff ad valorem tariff on imports from all economies subject to the investigations at either a 10% or a 12.5% rate, but with several significant product and trade agreement exceptions. USTR is accepting comments on the proposed tariffs through July 6, 2026, and will hold a public hearing on July 7, 2026.

Proposed tariff levels

USTR is proposing the imposition of either a 10% or a 12.5% tariff for imports from each country, based on USTR's determinations regarding the level of progress each country has made toward effectively implementing a prohibition on imported products made with forced labor.

10% tariff

The 10% tariff applies to countries classified under three determinations:

• Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, and Pakistan. USTR determined that these countries/groups of countries impose a forced labor import prohibition, but do not effectively enforce it.
• Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan. USTR determined that these countries have "undertaken commitments in their respective Agreements on Reciprocal Trade [ART] regarding forced labor import prohibition."²
• United Kingdom. USTR determined that the United Kingdom has "imposed a partial regime with the effect of preventing the importation of certain forced labor goods."

12.5% tariff

The 12.5% tariff would apply to: Algeria; Angola; Australia; The Bahamas; Bahrain; Brazil; Hong Kong, China; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica; Dominican Republic; Egypt; Guyana; Honduras; India; Iraq; Israel; Japan; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kuwait; Libya; Morocco; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Norway; Oman; Peru; Philippines; Qatar; Russia; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; South Africa; South Korea; Sri Lanka; Switzerland; Thailand; Trinidad and Tobago; Türkiye; the United Arab Emirates; Uruguay; Venezuela; and Vietnam.

USTR has determined that these countries "have failed to impose and effectively enforce a forced labor import prohibition."

Implementation details are not yet available

The proposed action does not include complete details about how or when the proposed tariffs would be implemented. USTR likely would include the technical implementation information and the entry into force dates in the final notice of action.

Proposed exceptions and tariff stacking

Similar to the tariffs the Trump administration recently imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), USTR is proposing several broad exceptions from the forced labor-related Section 301 tariffs:

• Informational materials, donations, and accompanied baggage.
• All articles and parts of articles that are subject to the various sectoral tariffs imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Section 232 tariffs currently cover copper, steel, aluminum, pharmaceuticals, wood products, passenger vehicles and parts, and trucks and parts. The Trump administration is also considering imposing Section 232 tariffs on semiconductors, critical minerals, commercial aircraft, unmanned aircraft, unmanned aircraft, polysilicon, wind turbines, medical products, and industrial machinery.
• Goods qualifying for preferential treatment under the United States – Mexico – Canada Agreement (USMCA).
• Textiles and apparel articles from Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, or Nicaragua that qualify for preferential treatment under the yarn-forward rule of the Dominican Republic – Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).
• A proposed tariff reduction for certain apparel and textile imports based on the value of US-produced cotton and textiles those countries import from the United States, apparently intended for non-CAFTA DR partners. The details of this proposal are not included in the notice.
• Goods specifically listed in the exclusions list in Annex A of the notice. The proposed Annex A list is identical to the Annex II exclusions list currently in use for the 10% global Section 122 tariff. It includes various food and agriculture products, energy products, raw materials and natural resources that are not available in sufficient quantities in the United States, and civil aircraft and parts (including unmanned aircraft), among others.

The notice does not provide technical details about how the informational materials, donations, and accompanied baggage exceptions; the Section 232 tariff exception; or the USMCA exception would work. That said, the Trump administration has included similar exceptions in both the IEEPA tariffs and the current Section 122 tariff, and the structure of those exceptions would likely inform what USTR is developing for this action.³

Additionally, the notice does not address whether these Section 301 tariffs would "stack" on other Section 301 tariffs that USTR is currently developing. Absent contrary guidance from USTR (such as the statement in this notice that products subject to Section 232 tariffs are exempt from the Section 301 tariffs), the default rule is that tariffs stack on each other.

Call for public input on the proposed action

USTR is inviting comments on the proposal and will hold a public hearing. The docket for receiving comments is open from June 2 to July 6, 2026.⁴ Stakeholders interested in participating in the public hearing on July 7 should submit a request to appear by June 22, 2026.⁵

USTR's notice provides further details on how to submit comments. USTR is specifically interested in comments on the products that should be included in the scope of the action or excluded, whether products listed in Annex A are appropriately excluded; the levels of the proposed tariffs; whether there should be different tariff rates for countries that have made commitments to impose and enforce forced labor import prohibitions, have imposed forced labor import prohibitions, or have imposed a partial prohibition; and the design of the textile and apparel tariff preference and whether similar mechanisms could be developed for other sectors.

Key dates for public engagement

• June 2, 2026: Comment docket opens
• June 22, 2026: Deadline for requests to appear at the hearing.
• July 6, 2026: Deadline for written comments.
• July 7, 2026: First day of public hearings, which will continue over subsequent days if needed.
• Five days after the last day of the public hearings: Deadline for post-hearing rebuttal comments.

The proposed tariffs will be finalized and implemented after USTR completes the public comment and hearing process. USTR likely intends to be ready to impose the tariffs under this action by the time the 10% global Section 122 tariff expires on July 24, 2026. The notice does not discuss if the tariffs would be implemented immediately or if there would be a grace period for products on the water.

Replacing the IEEPA tariffs with Section 301 tariffs

USTR initiated the forced labor Section 301 investigation on March 12, 2026 as part of a broader strategy to rebuild the IEEPA-based tariffs that the Supreme Court ruled were unlawful on February 24, 2026.⁶ A few weeks before USTR initiated the Section 301 investigations, President Trump⁷ and USTR⁸ outlined the plan in a series of public statements. According to the Trump administration, the plan is to reconstruct the IEEPA tariffs using two alternative legal authorities:

• Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974: President Trump imposed a temporary 10% global tariff on imports from all countries under Section 122 as a short-term measure on January 24, 2026.⁹ Section 122 tariffs can be implemented quickly, but are limited to a maximum duration of 150 days and a maximum rate of 15%.
• Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974: President Trump directed USTR to initiate new Section 301 investigations targeting US trade partners, which would provide a legal basis for longer-term tariffs. Unlike Section 122, Section 301 tariffs are not subject to the same practical time or rate limitations.

This two-stage approach has enabled rapid tariff implementation under Section 122 while using the 150-day window to develop and implement Section 301 tariffs as longer-term trade measures.

The responsive action USTR is proposing in the forced labor Section 301 would, in effect, restore the baseline tariff levels that had been applied under the IEEPA tariffs for trade partners that account for over 99% of goods imported into the United States. Alongside the forced labor imports investigation, USTR initiated Section 301 investigations into "structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors" of 16 of the United States' largest trading partners, the determinations for which are likely imminent.¹⁰ USTR is also carrying out two country-specific Section 301 investigations, one on Vietnam's "acts, policies, and practices related to intellectual property protection and enforcement," initiated on May 29, 2026,¹¹ and one on Brazil's "acts, policies, and practices related to digital trade and electronic payment services; unfair, preferential tariffs; anti-corruption enforcement; intellectual property protection; ethanol market access; and illegal deforestation," for which USTR issued a determination and a proposal to impose a 25% tariff on June 1, 2026.¹²

USTR may initiate additional Section 301 investigations in the near future. When it initially outlined the plan to replace the IEEPA tariffs with Section 301-based measures, USTR stated that it was considering investigations into "pharmaceutical pricing practices, discrimination against US technology companies and digital goods and services, digital services taxes, ocean pollution, and practices related to the trade in seafood, rice, and other products."

_{1 "Notice of Determinations and Request for Comments Concerning Actions in Section 301 Investigations of Acts, Policies, and Practices of Various Economies Related to the Failure to Impose and Effectively Enforce a Prohibition on the Importation of Goods Produced with Forced Labor," advance copy of the Federal Register notice, June 2, 2026. 
2 USTR has classified Ecuador and Indonesia under two different categories, but the tariff would be 10% regardless.
3 For the most recent example of a similar tariff system, see the Section 122 tariff order, "Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge to Address Fundamental International Payments Problems," 91 FR 9339 (February 25, 2026).
4 The public docket for submitting comments is USTR-2026-0265.
5 The public docket for submitting requests to appear at the hearing is USTR-2026-0266.
6 "Initiation of Section 301 Investigations of Acts, Policies, and Practices of Various Economies Related to the Failure To Impose and Effectively Enforce a Prohibition on the Importation of Goods Produced With Forced Labor," 91 FR 12884 (March 17, 2026).
7 Truth Social post of February 20, 2026 by President Trump.
8 "Ambassador Greer Issues Statement on Supreme Court IEEPA Decision," USTR, February 20, 2026. 
9 Presidential Proclamation 11012 of February 20, 2026: "Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge to Address Fundamental International Payments Problems," 91 FR 9339; and CSMS # 67844987 - Imposing Temporary Section 122 Duties, February 23, 2026. 
10 "Initiation of Section 301 Investigations: Acts, Policies, and Practices of Certain Economies Relating to Structural Excess Capacity and Production in Manufacturing Sectors," 91 FR 12886 (March 17, 2026).
11 "Initiation of Section 301 Investigation and Request for Public Comments: Vietnam's Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement," 91 FR 33285 (June 3, 2026).
12 "Notice of Determination and Request for Comments Concerning Action Pursuant to Section 301: Brazil's Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Digital Trade and Electronic Payment Services; Unfair, Preferential Tariffs; Anti-Corruption Enforcement; Intellectual Property Protection; Ethanol Market Access; and Illegal Deforestation," 91 FR 33854 (June 4, 2026).}

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