US "Public Hearing on 'Import of Forced Labor Products' on 28th, 29th"…Steps Towards Imposing New Tariffs

US "Public Hearing on 'Import of Forced Labor Products' on 28th, 29th"…Steps Towards Imposing New Tariffs

Part of 'Section 301 Investigation of the Trade Act' targeting 60 economic entities including Korea, China, and Japan

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced on the 24th that it will hold public hearings on the 28th (local time) and 29th as part of a Section 301 investigation of the Trade Act into economic entities that are not prohibiting the import of products made with forced labor.

The USTR stated that the public hearings will begin at 10 AM at the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) in Washington D.C.

The USTR is expected to receive rebuttal statements up to seven days after the last day of the public hearing (29th), and then take action, including imposing tariffs, along with the results of the investigation for each country.

The Trump administration launched a Section 301 investigation concerning 'imports of forced labor products' on April 12th last month, targeting 60 major trading partners, including South Korea, China, and Japan.

The USTR previously stated that the purpose of this investigation is to determine whether the acts, policies, and practices of each economic entity related to not effectively imposing and enforcing import bans on goods produced by forced labor are unreasonable or discriminatory, or burden or restrict U.S. industry.

This Section 301 investigation of the Trade Act is being conducted to introduce new tariffs to replace the country-specific reciprocal tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the 'fentanyl tariffs' (tariffs imposed for not cooperating in blocking the smuggling of the narcotic fentanyl into the U.S.) after they were invalidated by the U.S. Federal Supreme Court in February.

Section 301 of the Trade Act grants the administration the authority to respond to unfair, unreasonable, and discriminatory actions, policies, and practices of foreign governments that restrict or burden U.S. trade, including through the imposition of tariffs.