The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) confirmed this Thursday afternoon (23) a new tariff of 12.5% on imports from Brazil for goods produced with forced labor.
The measure, based on Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, affects 59 other nations that, according to Donald Trump’s government, did not act to prohibit the use of forced labor in the development of their goods, which creates a commercial disadvantage for the United States.
The USTR’s decision was made after two rounds of public hearings earlier this month, which drew 2,100 comments from interested parties in the investigation. Senator and presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro was involved in negotiations in the USA to avoid tariffs.
“President Trump recognizes that decades of moral suasion have not eradicated forced labor from global supply chains. The U.S. has had an import ban on forced labor products for nearly a century and enforces it rigorously; it is past time for our trading partners to do the same,” said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.