Business EconomyPosted at: Jun 3 2026 12:22PM

New Delhi, June 3 (UNI) The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has proposed imposing additional duties on imports from 60 economies, including India, citing their failure to ban and adequately enforce restrictions on products made using forced labour.
The USTR said it had determined that the acts, policies, and practices of these 60 economies were "unreasonable" and burdened or restricted US commerce because they did not adequately prevent the import of goods made with forced labour.
It has proposed additional duties on all products from the investigated economies, subject to exclusions listed in its Federal Register notice. Economies that already have a forced labour import prohibition, have committed to one through an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, or maintain a partial regime to block certain forced labour goods would face an additional duty of 10 per cent. For all other economies, the proposed rate is 12.5 per cent.
The proposal has been made under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974, which authorises the U.S. government to take action against foreign policies or practices that it considers unfair or harmful to American trade and commercial interests.
As per the USTR, India is among the 54 economies that had failed to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour.
The USTR said India had failed to impose and effectively enforce a forced labour import prohibition, and concluded that India's acts, policies and practices related to the absence of such a prohibition were "unreasonable" and burdened or restricted US commerce.
Other economies on the list include Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.
"The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable. This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field," US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in the USTR statement.
The USTR has also proposed a textile mechanism that would allow a certain volume of apparel and textile imports from some economies to enter the US at a reduced Section 301 tariff rate.

The development comes at a time when India and the US move closer to finalising their first bilateral trade agreement (BTA) as a US delegation led by Assistant US Trade Representative Brendan Lynch is in India on June 1-4 to continue discussions aimed at finalising a U.S.-India trade agreement.UNI VK AAB

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