US President Donald Trump has implemented new tariffs, stating that their purpose is to combat forced labour. This move follows an "investigation" into other countries' alleged failures to police labour abuses.
These new tariffs come after the expiration in late July of 150-day temporary tariffs, which courts had deemed illegal. The previous tariffs imposed by Trump were struck down by the supreme court.
The EU introduced a Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive in 2024, which prohibits the importation of goods produced with forced labour, including those made by subcontractors. US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick previously stated that this EU law created "unnecessary negative burdens" on American companies.
The US has a loophole in the 13th amendment to its constitution regarding involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. Less than a quarter of US states forbid forced labour, and a 2005 study indicated nearly 1.4 million US prisoners were employed, with approximately 600,000 working in manufacturing.
US manufacturing jobs have reportedly declined by 75,000 since Trump's second inauguration. The US trade deficit in goods has increased during his second term, reaching a record high of $1.24 trillion in nominal terms.