Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: India will face a lower 10 per cent tariff under the Trump administration’s new Section 301 enforcement action on forced labour imports after the United States concluded that New Delhi had adopted a forced labour import prohibition.
The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that, at President Donald Trump’s direction, it is imposing tariffs on imports from 60 economies for failing to impose or effectively enforce bans on goods produced with forced labour. The new duties take effect on July 24 and range from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent, depending on the status of each country’s forced labour import regime.
India is among 17 economies that will be subject to the lower 10 per cent tariff, alongside Bangladesh, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.
According to the USTR, India moved into that category after adopting a forced labour import prohibition following the publication of the agency’s proposed action in June.
“President Trump recognises that decades of moral suasion have not eradicated forced labour from global supply chains. The United States has had a forced labour import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said.
“Today’s action will begin to correct what is both a human rights abuse and a distortive trade practice to improve the welfare of workers everywhere. I am encouraged by the trading partners who have moved quickly to adopt forced labour import prohibitions, and look forward to ensuring their effective enforcement,” Greer said.
