The Trump administration has unveiled plans for a new wave of tariffs affecting more than 60 countries, including Canada, arguing that those nations have failed to stop goods produced through forced labour from entering global supply chains.
The proposal marks the latest effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to replace broad tariffs that were invalidated earlier this year by the U.S. Supreme Court. If implemented, the measures would place fresh duties on dozens of America’s largest trading partners while reigniting tensions over international trade and labour standards.
New Tariffs Proposed For Canada
The announcement came from U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer shortly after a meeting in Washington with Canadian trade officials.
“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labour is unacceptable,” Greer said in a news release.
Under the proposal, Canada would face a 10 percent tariff on exports that do not comply with the rules of origin established under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement.
Because most Canadian exports already qualify under CUSMA requirements, nearly 90 percent of goods shipped to the United States would avoid the tariff. However, the language in the announcement suggests the new measure could be added on top of an existing 10 percent duty that currently applies to non-compliant Canadian products and is scheduled to expire in late July.
Investigation Targets Dozens Of Trading Partners
The proposed tariffs stem from investigations launched in March by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The reviews examined whether 59 countries and the European Union were effectively preventing imports linked to forced labour.
According to the administration, every country examined failed to meet U.S. expectations.
That conclusion has drawn criticism from trade experts who question whether such a broad finding accurately reflects conditions across vastly different economies.
Critics Challenge U.S. Findings
David Henig, a policy director at the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels, dismissed the administration’s reasoning.
“It’s actually preposterous,” Henig told CBC News, adding that the evidence presented by the U.S. doesn’t justify the tariffs being proposed. “The logic is so contorted.”
Henig argued that the forced labour issue is being used as justification for tariffs the administration already wanted to impose.
“The U.S. is using the forced labour issue as ‘an excuse to impose the tariffs that they wanted to do anyway,'” Henig said.
Besides Canada, countries facing a proposed 10 percent tariff include the European Union, the United Kingdom, Argentina, El Salvador, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Another 44 nations, including Japan, Singapore, India, South Korea and Vietnam, would be subject to tariffs of 12.5 percent.
Canada’s Enforcement Record Under Scrutiny
The administration’s 92-page report argues that Canada has not adequately enforced its own ban on imports tied to forced labour, a prohibition that came into effect in 2020.
“The number of enforcement actions Canada has taken to prevent the entry of forced labor goods is minimal.”
The report also notes that the Canada Border Services Agency lacks publicly available enforcement statistics.
“The little information that is available regarding enforcement statistics suggests that, between 2020 and 2026, Canadian authorities intercepted just 50 shipments for suspicion of forced labor, with only two shipments ultimately prohibited entry,” it says.
U.S. officials contrasted those figures with American enforcement actions under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. According to the report, U.S. Customs and Border Protection blocked more than 6,300 shipments in 2024 alone under the legislation targeting goods linked to China’s Xinjiang region.
Human Rights Group Pushes Back
The administration also cited research from Above Ground, a Canadian human rights organization, to support claims that Canadian companies may be benefiting from imports connected to forced labour.
The report referenced concerns about products including seafood, coffee, cocoa and cotton.
However, the organization itself opposed the tariff approach.
In a submission to U.S. officials earlier this year, Above Ground urged Washington not to penalize Canada through additional duties.
NGO Says Tariffs Could Undermine Progress
Karen Hamilton, director of Above Ground, questioned the administration’s motivations.
“In the current context, there’s very little appetite in Canada to be told what to do by this current U.S. administration, especially on issues of human rights and labour rights,” Hamilton told CBC News on Wednesday.
While supporting the organization’s findings that Canada has room to strengthen enforcement, Hamilton criticized the decision to use that research as justification for tariffs.
“We are concerned that this will undermine our efforts to achieve real change and actually have measures that do combat forced labour and that do uplift the rights of workers,” Hamilton said.
Forced Labour Dispute Predates Trump’s Return
Concerns about Canada’s enforcement of forced labour restrictions are not new.
During negotiations that resulted in CUSMA in 2018, U.S. negotiators pressed both Canada and Mexico to adopt laws blocking imports made through forced labour.
Warnings have continued in the years since. In 2022, a Canadian Liberal lawmaker suggested the U.S. could eventually retaliate if Canada failed to strengthen enforcement. Two years later, a Democratic U.S. senator involved in crafting forced labour legislation expressed concerns that weak Canadian enforcement could create a pathway for restricted products to reach American markets.
For now, the tariffs remain only a proposal. The administration must complete a public consultation and review process, including hearings scheduled for July, before any new duties can take effect.
