A new measure from the Office of the United States Trade Representative penalizes 60 trading partners—including Nigeria—with a 12.5% import duty due to insufficient enforcement against forced labor in their supply chains.
The policy establishes a tiered structure: nations that actively prohibit or pledge to restrict forced-labor imports qualify for a reduced 10% tariff rate.
Key economies benefiting from this lower rate include the United Kingdom, Mexico, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
According to the USTR, the action followed investigations launched in May 2026 under Section 301 of the Trade Act, covering 60 of America’s largest trading partners.
The agency said the review drew more than 1,600 written submissions, featured testimony from over 100 witnesses during public hearings, and involved consultations with more than 45 governments before the final decision was reached.
Explaining the tariff structure, the USTR stated: “10 percent is the appropriate rate of Section 301 duties for investigated economies that (i) impose a forced labor import prohibition; (ii) have committed to impose and enforce such a prohibition through an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade; or (iii) have imposed a partial regime with the effect of preventing the importation of certain forced labor goods.
“These economies are: Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom.
“10 percent or 12.5 percent, net of Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) rate, is the appropriate rate of Section 301 duties for certain products of the European Union, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Switzerland that are not otherwise exempted, as explained in greater detail in the Federal Register Notice.”
The agency added: “12.5 percent is the appropriate rate of Section 301 duty for all other investigated economies.”
A Federal Register notice obtained from the USTR confirmed that Nigerian exports would be subject to the 12.5 per cent tariff, except for products covered by specified exemptions.
The notice stated: “Based on the findings in the investigation of Nigeria, considering the public comments, testimony, and the advice of the Section 301 Committee, as well as the advice of advisory committees, and in accordance with the specific direction of the President, the Trade Representative has determined to impose 12.5 percent tariffs on products of Nigeria, except as provided in Annex I and Annex II, Part A, of this Notice.
“The Trade Representative has determined, in accordance with the specific direction of the President, that the tariff rate to be applied, and the scope of tariffs and exemptions, are appropriate to obtain the elimination of the acts, policies, and practices determined to be actionable in the investigation.”
The latest trade measure follows President Donald Trump’s decision to invoke Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to introduce temporary universal tariffs after the US Supreme Court blocked his administration’s wider tariff proposal under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the policy was intended to encourage stronger action by America’s trading partners against forced labour.
“President Trump recognises that decades of moral suasion have not eradicated forced labour from global supply chains,” Greer said.
“The United States has had a forced labour import ban for nearly a century. It’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same.”
The USTR said some products would be exempt from the tariffs, including raw materials whose restriction could create domestic shortages, goods capable of causing widespread economic disruption, products unavailable in sufficient quantities within the United States or from alternative suppliers, and selected imports from countries that have adopted or committed to implementing forced labour import bans.
It added that further exemptions had been granted where imposing tariffs was considered unlikely to eliminate the trade practices identified during the investigations.