On July 23, 2026, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced in a Notice of Action its final action in the Section 301 investigation of 60 economies for “their failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.” Under Section 301 of the Tariff Act of 1974, the USTR has made the following determinations:
- 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; and
- 12.5 percent is the appropriate rate of Section 301 duty for all other investigated economies.
These additional duties are applicable with respect to products that are entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern time on July 24, 2026. Goods loaded onto a vessel at the port of loading and in transit on the final mode of transit before 12:01 a.m. eastern time on July 24, 2026, and entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption before 12:01 a.m. eastern time on July 28, 2026, are not subject to the additional duty.
The USTR has also determined that certain product exemptions are appropriate for:
- raw materials that if subject to these tariffs could lead to the unavailability of domestic supply;
- products that could cause economy-wide disruptions if subject to these tariffs;
- products that cannot be grown or produced in sufficient quantities or at reasonable prices in the United States or obtained from other sources;
- certain products of Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ecuador, El Salvador, the European Union, Guatemala, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Switzerland, Taiwan, or the United Kingdom that would encourage these economies to fulfill commitments regarding forced labor import prohibitions or to enact and effectively enforce a forced labor import prohibition; or
- articles for which these tariffs may not contribute substantially to the elimination of the acts, policies, and practices of found to be actionable in the investigations.
Details on these exemptions are set forth in Annexes I and II of the Notice and identified by their Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheading. In addition, the following goods are not covered by today’s action: (i) informational materials, donations, and accompanied baggage; and (ii) all articles and parts of articles subject to section 232 tariffs.
The Notice of Action also states that as soon as feasible, the USTR will establish Tariff-Rate Quotas (TRQs) for certain products from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia.
For additional background information, please see SmarTrade posts dated March 17, 2026 and June 4, 2026.