Once again, the United States has reached for the tariff as both shield and signal, imposing new duties of 10 to 12.5 percent on sixty nations under the banner of forced labour reform. The Trump administration, having lost its earlier legal footing before the Supreme Court, has found sturdier ground in a different statute — one that allows punishment of unfair trade practices rather than emergency declarations. Whether this represents genuine moral reckoning with the 27.6 million people trapped in forced labour worldwide, or simply commerce dressed in the language of conscience, is a question
US imposes 10-12.5% tariffs on 60 countries citing forced labour enforcement
Roughly 27.6 million people were in forced labour worldwide on any given day in 2021, according to the International Labour Organisation.