US Trade Leaders Probe How Forced Labor Policies Impact Business

US trade officials heard from dozens of businesses, industries, and governments this week as they mull whether to impose a new round of tariffs on more than 80 jurisdictions.

During a two-day hearing convened by the US Trade Representative’s office, companies and trade groups disagreed over the need for tariffs to respond to other countries’ failures to effectively ban imports made with forced labor.

USTR is looking into whether those practices are “unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict US commerce.” President Donald Trump’s administration opened the probes a few weeks after the February Supreme Court decision striking down his ...