Forced labour prohibitions around the world: understanding the impact of USTR tariffs on global import controls
A practical guide to the US forced labour tariff regime and how it’s changing import controls worldwide. It explains why the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) launched Section 301 investigations into America’s largest trading partners in March 2026, and how a country’s failure to ban goods made with forced labour now affects the tariffs its exports face. It also covers how governments around the world have responded with new import bans, and what businesses need to know about supply chains that are increasingly policed at the border.
Why download this guide
- Understand how the US now treats weak forced labour enforcement as an unfair trade practice
- See which countries USTR found to lack adequate prohibitions, and what that means for the goods you source from them
- Know what counts as forced labour under the ILO definition that many of the new regimes rely on
- Get ahead of the move from disclosure-based modern slavery rules to border enforcement
- Assess where your supply chain could see shipments detained, or face extra tariffs, in different markets
What’s in the guide
- How the USTR Section 301 investigations began and what they concluded
- Existing US controls, including Section 307 of the Tariff Act and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
- The tariff consequences for trading partners from July 2026
- What counts as forced labour, including debt bondage, coercive recruitment and document retention
- How countries in Asia, Latin America and elsewhere responded with new or strengthened bans
- What the shift to border enforcement means for multinational businesses and their supply chains
