KUALA LUMPUR (March 13): The US has started investigations into 60 countries, including Singapore, over accusations of failures to take action on forced labour.
The investigations under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 will determine whether the countries' handling of goods produced with alleged forced labour hurt US commerce, the US Trade Representative said in a statement.
“For too long, American workers and firms have been forced to compete against foreign producers who may have an artificial cost advantage gained from the scourge of forced labour,” Ambassador Jamieson Greer said.
The list of economies under probe include the European Union, China, India, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil. Apart from Singapore, the US is also looking into practices of Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam.
The US has requested consultations with governments of the countries under the investigations, and will hold hearings on April 28.
“Despite the international consensus against forced labour, governments have failed to impose and effectively enforce measures banning goods produced with forced labour from entering their markets,” Greer said.
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The office of the US Trade Representative did not provide any specific evidence to back up its accusations, but cited the International Labour Organization’s 2021 estimates that 3.5 out of every 1,000 people, or 28 million people, were in forced labour globally as of 2021.
The forced labour allegations come on the heels of investigations into Malaysia and other trading partners of excess manufacturing capacity announced earlier this week. In its case against Malaysia, the US is charging that Malaysia has excess capacity in the electronics, machinery and steel sectors.
The actions also come less than a month after the US Supreme Court ruled on Feb 20 against previous tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. These were replaced with a 10% global levy on all foreign goods and US President Donald Trump has been working on raising the rate to 15%.
Edited by Jason Ng
