The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said on the 2nd that it plans to impose an additional 10% or 12.5% tariff on imports from 60 economies that have failed to block the transaction of products made with forced labor.
Korea was included in a group of 54 economies that failed both to introduce and to effectively enforce an import ban on goods produced with forced labor, and a 12.5% tariff was applied.
Earlier, to replace the reciprocal tariff that the Supreme Court ruled unlawful in Feb., the USTR in Mar. launched a Section 301 investigation in the areas of "overproduction" and "imports of products made with forced labor." Korea is subject to both areas.
Regarding the measures proposed based on the results of this investigation, the USTR plans to finalize implementation after gathering public input, including at a hearing on July 7.
Jamieson Greer, the USTR representative, said in a statement, "It is unacceptable that our important trading partners have failed to address the import of products made with forced labor," adding, "This forces American workers to compete on an unfair global playing field."