The U.S. Trade Representative has proposed slapping 12.5% additional duties on 54 countries, including India, for failing to prohibit the import of goods produced with forced labour.

The action follows investigations launched against 60 countries over what the USTR described as their failure to impose and effectively enforce bans on imports made with forced labour.

“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labour is unacceptable. This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field,” U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer said in a statement.

“We will no longer tolerate this disparity,” he said.

India has denied the allegations under the forced labour clause and asked the U.S. to end the investigations, saying such matters should be addressed within the framework of ongoing bilateral trade negotiations.

Mr. Greer said, though some trading partners have taken initial steps to prevent the importation of forced labour goods, including through USMCA and commitments in Agreements on Reciprocal Trade, “each of our trading partners must do more to ensure that trade does not perversely encourage and entrench forced labour globally”.

The USTR statement said 54 countries, including India, China, Japan, Brazil, Australia, the UK, and Saudi Arabia, have failed to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour.

It said six economies — Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, and Pakistan — have failed to effectively enforce existing prohibitions on the importation of goods produced with forced labour.

For economies that impose a forced labour import prohibition, that have committed to impose and enforce such a prohibition through an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, or economies that have imposed a partial regime with the effect of preventing the importation of certain forced labour goods, the USTR has proposed an additional duty of 10%.

“For all other economies, the U.S. Trade Representative proposes 12.5% as the rate of additional duty,” the statement said.

The 12.5% tariffs apply to the 54 countries.

The USTR also proposed a textile mechanism that would allow for a certain volume of apparel and textile imports from certain economies to enter the U.S. at a reduced tariff rate.

The USTR has asked interested persons to submit requests to appear at the hearings, along with a summary of testimony by June 22 and send in written comments by July 6.

“USTR will hold hearings about the proposed actions in these investigations on July 7,” the statement said.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said late on ​Thursday (March 12, 2026) it had begun Section 301 unfair trade practices probes of ‌60 economies in relation to what it called ​failures to take action on forced labour. President Donald ⁠Trump’s administration has sought to rebuild tariff pressure on countries around the world after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down his global ‌tariffs as illegal on February 20.

“These investigations will determine whether foreign governments have taken sufficient steps to ‌prohibit the importation of goods produced with forced labour ‌and ⁠how the failure to eradicate these abhorrent practices ⁠impacts U.S. workers and businesses,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.

The list of 60 countries and economies includes some major U.S. trade ​partners and allies such ‌as Australia, Canada, the EU, Britain, Israel, India, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. China and Russia are also on the list.

The government in Taiwan, which is listed too, ‌said in a statement that it is committed to ​improving labour rights and preventing forced labour, and will work with the U.S. to emphasize human rights, ⁠resilience, and sustainable governance.

Mr. Trump imposed a 10% tariff for 150 days under Section 122 of the Trade Act of ‌1974 after the Supreme Court’s ruling. On Wednesday (March 11, 2026), his administration said it was launching trade investigations into excess industrial capacity in 16 major trading partners.

The U.S. has already cracked down on solar panels and other goods from China’s Xinjiang region under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, signed ‌into law by former President Joe Biden.

Mr. Greer said he wanted other countries ​to enforce bans on goods produced with forced labour similar to those enshrined in a nearly century-old ⁠trade law.

The U.S. alleges that Chinese authorities have established labour ⁠camps for ethnic Uyghur and other Muslim groups. Beijing denies allegations of abuse.

Mr. Greer said he hoped to ‌conclude the Section 301 investigations, including proposed remedies, before Trump’s temporary tariffs expire in July.

Beijing dismissed on Friday (January 23, 2026) concerns from United Nations experts over the scale and severity of allegations of forced labour affecting minority groups in China, calling them “fundamentally groundless”.

UN special rapporteurs and other experts said on Thursday (January 23, 2026) there were “persistent” allegations of State-imposed forced labour affecting ethnic minorities within the far-western Xinjiang region and other parts of China.

When asked about the comments, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said that “slander cannot be tolerated”.

“The so-called concerns of certain experts are entirely fabricated and fundamentally groundless,” spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters at a regular press briefing.

“We urge the experts… [to] perform their duties impartially and objectively and not be reduced to serve as tools and accomplices of anti-China forces,” Guo added.

The UN experts said in a joint statement that forced labour was being enabled through a State-mandated “poverty alleviation through labour transfer” programme, which they said coerces Uyghurs and members of other minority groups into jobs in Xinjiang and other regions.

They also said Tibetans were subject to forced labour through similar schemes, estimating around 650,000 people were affected by labour transfers in 2024.

Beijing has repeatedly and vehemently denied accusations of human rights abuses against the Uyghurs, saying that these initiatives reduce poverty by providing well-paying jobs for low-income rural residents.

UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to report their findings. They do not, therefore, speak on the UN’s behalf.

Guo said on Friday (January 23, 2026) that the development and progress in Xinjiang and Tibet are “evident to all”.