USTR starts investigations into forced labour and overproduction

9 articles · Updated · AdvancedManufacturing.org · May 1

The White House is weighing replacement tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down earlier levies, while businesses prepare for refunds and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said restored duties could come within five months.
The probes and hearings examine overseas forced labour and whether trading partners overproduce goods, hurting US manufacturers, and could underpin fresh tariffs under legal authorities seen as more resilient in court.
A related forced-labour investigation launched in March targeted 59 countries and the EU, and Section 301 tariffs under the 1974 Trade Act have so far withstood more than 4,000 legal challenges.

Is the US trade probe a real blow to forced labor or a pretext for widespread tariffs on major partners?

Could tariffs targeting forced labor products end up hurting the world's most vulnerable workers instead of helping them?