Seven Southeast Asian nations are among the 60 countries that the Trump administration has threatened with double-digit tariffs over their failures on the issue of forced labor.
In March, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced that his office had initiated unfair trade practices probes over these nations’ alleged failures to take action on forced labor, under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974.
In a statement released in Washington late Tuesday, Greer’s office concluded that the “acts, policies, and practices” of all 60 nations had failed “to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”
The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are among the 44 economies that the Trump administration has threatened with a 12.5 percent tariff for unfair trading practices. The remaining 16 nations, including Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malaysia, are in line for a 10 percent tariff.
The list of nations under scrutiny also includes major U.S. partners and allies such as Australia, Canada, the European Union, Britain, Israel, India, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, as well as adversaries like China and Russia.
In its full 92-page report, the USTR said that these nations’ failures undermined “the universal aim of eliminating forced labor” as well as disadvantaging firms and countries that did not permit its use, thereby “distort[ing] market conditions.”
“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable,” Greer said in the USTR statement. “This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field. We will no longer tolerate this disparity.” He added that the failure to prevent such imports was “unreasonable and burdens or restricts U.S. commerce.”
The tariffs are part of President Donald Trump’s push to rescue his protectionist trade policy after the U.S. Supreme Court in February struck down the sweeping global tariffs that his administration imposed on allies and adversaries alike last year. Trump responded by imposing a blanket 10 percent tariff on all U.S. imports under the U.S. Trade Act. Last month, a U.S. trade court found those were also unlawful, although they will remain in place while the appeal process plays out.
The new tariffs will not take effect immediately. They are subject to public comment and review, and the USTR will then “hold hearings about the proposed actions in these investigations” on July 7.
Nonetheless, this latest announcement is likely to unsettle key trading partners that have endured more than a year of uncertainty since Trump returned to the White House in early 2025. It also casts a degree of uncertainty over the existing trade negotiations between certain Southeast Asian nations and the Trump administration.
Since Trump’s initial “liberation day” tariff announcement, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia have finalized “reciprocal” trade agreements with the U.S., while Thailand and Vietnam continue to negotiate the details of general “framework” agreements announced last year.
Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, and Indonesia also face a separate Section 301 investigation into excess industrial capacity, which the USTR says could “burden or restrict U.S. commerce.” Vietnam also faces an additional trade investigation looking into its handling of intellectual property rights.
These investigations are likely to introduce new notes of tension into the ongoing negotiations, and destabilize Washington’s relations with key Southeast Asian partners.
As I noted when the trade probes were announced in March, “if the purpose of these probes is to create a new legal basis for tariffs that the Trump administration has already announced, it is only natural to question whether they are designed to reach a predetermined conclusion.” The fact that all 60 nations under investigation have been found “guilty” suggests that the administration’s priority goes beyond forced labor.
Taken along with the disruptions of the U.S. war of choice with Iran, which, despite a lull in fighting, continues to obstruct the flow of oil to Asia, it is ever more apparent that the U.S. government’s strategic goals in the Asia-Pacific – in particular, its desire to contain Chinese power and ambition – sits in increasing tension with its trade and tariff policy.