Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs: What Importers and Sustainability Teams Need to Know

Section 301 forced labor tariffs are additional U.S. duties on goods from 60 economies that have not effectively prohibited imports made with forced labor. These tariffs took effect on July 24, 2026, and cover economies accounting for 99.4% of U.S. imports.

The duty applies because of a country’s laws, not because of specific products found within a shipment. A company can have strong evidence about its own suppliers and products, and still be responsible for paying the duties. These tariffs are currently being challenged at the U.S. Court of International Trade, which heard arguments on September 30, 2026, but has not yet ruled.

Below, we explain which countries are affected, how the tariffs work alongside other existing duties, and what they mean for supply chain due diligence.

What Are Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs?

Section 301 forced labor tariffs are additional duties on goods from economies that have not effectively prohibited imports made with forced labor from entering the U.S., and have therefore burdened domestic trade. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) sets the duty rates, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) collects them at the border in addition to the normal tariff.

USTR concluded 60 separate investigations on July 23, 2026, and set the duty at 10% or 12.5% depending on the economy. Together, those economies account for 99.4% of U.S. imports.

The duty applies to goods entered into U.S. commerce from July 24, 2026, either directly or by withdrawal from a bonded warehouse (91 FR 47318). The entry date decides whether the duty applies, not the shipping date.

Two U.S. laws underpin forced labor enforcement, and they operate at different levels. Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 works at the country level. USTR uses it to penalize trading partners over the forced labor bans they have or have not enacted. Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 works at the shipment level, and CBP uses it to detain individual consignments. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which we discuss in more detail below, operates inside Section 307. 

Neither law requires annual filings or reporting, and forced labor rarely shows up in a supplier’s policies or certificates. Common warning signs include deceptive recruitment, recruitment fees that leave workers in debt, confiscated identity documents, withheld or unpaid wages, restrictions on leaving the workplace, and excessive overtime. Companies with strong human rights due diligence are better positioned to spot these risks before they become a customs problem. To learn more about how EcoVadis supports human and labor rights due diligence, contact us today. 

Legal Basis Under Section 301 of the Trade Act

USTR opened the investigations on March 12, 2026, and made its decisions in June (91 FR 12884). The statute lets USTR act where a foreign practice is unreasonable, as in a persistent pattern of permitting forced labor.

That branch of the statute is discretionary. That means USTR must act when a practice is unjustifiable. Where it is unreasonable, however, they may act, and that’s what happened in this investigation. USTR determined that all 60 economies met that test and that their practices burden U.S. commerce (91 FR 34272).

A Section 301 case normally responds to a foreign government action that directly harms U.S. commerce, such as compelled technology transfer or subsidized overcapacity. This investigation instead responds to foreign governments’ failure to effectively legislate against forced labor imports. This is why country of origin determines the duty rather than any characteristic of the goods themselves.

Our overview of Section 301 Investigations takes a deeper look at how USTR runs these processes.

Which Sectors USTR’s Findings Named

USTR published a separate finding for each economy, so no single list of affected sectors exists. Its reports used case studies to show where it found forced labor, covering solar products and polysilicon, cotton, textiles and apparel, tobacco, rice, and beef. For example, USTR found forced labor widespread in China’s polysilicon and solar cell production, and reported that 92.8% of Chinese cotton comes from Xinjiang.

Those findings explain why USTR acted. They do not change what any economy pays. China and Hong Kong pay the same flat 12.5% as 36 other economies, and the action sets no separate rate for solar, polysilicon, or cotton.

Companies sourcing in those sectors should treat the findings as a guide to where enforcement attention will fall, rather than as a guide to the duty.

How Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs Differ From UFLPA Enforcement

Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 bans goods made with convict, forced, or indentured labor from any country, and CBP enforces it shipment by shipment. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) operates within that ban. The UFLPA presumes that goods linked to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) or any associated entities were made with forced labor, and therefore cannot enter the U.S. The importer must submit official rebuttals to attempt to bring the goods in.

The Section 301 forced labor tariff is different. USTR adds a duty because of an economy’s laws, but the goods can still enter.

	Section 301 forced labor tariff	Section 307, including UFLPA
What happens to the goods	They enter, and the duty is payable	They are blocked at the border
What is examined	The exporting country’s laws	The goods themselves
What triggers it	Country of origin, whatever the shipment contains	Evidence of forced labor in the goods, or a XUAR or entity list link
What the importer must do	Pay the duty	Prove the goods are admissible
What it costs	10% or 12.5%	Detention, and possibly seizure or penalties
Who runs it	USTR	CBP
In force since	July 24, 2026	1930, with UFLPA added in 2022

 

The two overlap on subject matter. Silica-based products, including polysilicon, are a UFLPA priority sector, alongside apparel, cotton, and tomatoes, with polyvinyl chloride, aluminum, and seafood added in 2024. Several of those also appear in USTR’s findings.

A company can therefore face both regulations at once, or either on its own. An importer with no XUAR exposure will still pay the Section 301 duty if it buys from a covered country. Importers should consider the two regulations separately, because each needs different evidence.

Key Terms and the Section 301 Process

Every Section 301 case moves through the same four stages. The table below defines each term and shows what it meant in the forced labor investigation.

Term	What it means	What happened here
Initiation	USTR opens an investigation	USTR opened 60 investigations on March 12, 2026, one for each economy
Actionable	USTR finds the practice unjustifiable, unreasonable, or discriminatory, and finds that it burdens U.S. commerce	USTR found all 60 economies actionable
Determination	USTR decides whether to act	Announced June 2, 2026 and published June 5, 2026
Responsive action	USTR imposes the remedy, usually a duty	Duties of 10% or 12.5% from July 24, 2026

Modification is an optional fifth stage that allows USTR to modify or end an action once it is in force, although USTR has not yet made any such modifications to the forced labor tariffs.

This process is also underway in the Section 301 Structural Excess Capacity investigations, which USTR opened on March 11, 2026 (91 FR 12886). While no findings or actions have been announced yet, companies should monitor those changes as well.

Section 301 Timeline: Initiation to Action

The forced labor case ran from initiation to collected duties in four and a half months.

Date	What happened
March 12, 2026	USTR opens 60 investigations
April 15, 2026	Written comments due
April 28 to May 1, 2026	First public hearings
June 2, 2026	USTR announces its findings and proposed action
June 5, 2026	Decisions published and comments reopened
July 6, 2026	Second comment deadline
July 7, 2026 onward	Hearings at the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC)
July 23, 2026	USTR announces the final action and CBP issues guidance
July 24, 2026	Duties apply from 12:01 a.m. Eastern time
July 28, 2026	Notices published in the Federal Register, and the grace period for goods already in transit closes

Importers should track Federal Register notices for the open investigations, because a new action can reach entry within weeks of a final decision.

Which Countries Are Affected By Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs

All 60 investigated economies pay the duty at either 10% or 12.5%. USTR counts economies rather than countries, because the European Union, Taiwan, and Hong Kong are each treated separately. 

The 60 fall into four rate groups. For 55 economies, the Section 301 duty is added on top of the normal tariff. For the other five, it tops up to a ceiling instead.

Rate	How it is applied	Economies
10%	Added to the normal tariff	Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom (17)
10%	Tops up to a 10% ceiling	The European Union and Taiwan (2)
12.5%	Added to the normal tariff	Algeria, Angola, Australia, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Guyana, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Vietnam (38)
12.5%	Tops up to a 12.5% ceiling	Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland (3)

Importers should check the rate group for every sourcing country before repricing, because the two mechanics can produce substantially different landed costs.

What Decides a Country’s Rate

The country’s own law decides the rate, not how much forced labor exists there.

A country pays 10% if it already bans forced labor imports, operates a partial ban, or has promised the U.S. it will introduce one. That promise is made in an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, a bilateral deal in which a trading partner gives undertakings to the U.S. Ten trading partners have agreed to enact a ban this way. Every other investigated country pays 12.5%.

The six countries with a ban they were not enforcing pay less than countries with no ban at all. Canada and Mexico pay 10%, while Australia and Norway pay 12.5%.

How the Rate Works With the Most-Favored-Nation Duty

Every import already carries a normal tariff, known as the most-favored-nation (MFN) rate. That is the rate the U.S. applies to World Trade Organization members. For the 55 economies in the two stacking groups, the Section 301 duty is added to the MFN rate and to any other scheduled duties.

Antidumping and countervailing duties also apply. An antidumping duty applies where a foreign producer sells goods in the United States below fair value. A countervailing duty applies where a foreign government subsidizes production. CBP calculates both for specific producers, so two suppliers in the same country can pay different amounts.

For the European Union, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland, the calculation works differently. The Section 301 duty tops up the normal tariff to the ceiling, and no further. Where the normal tariff already meets or exceeds the ceiling, no Section 301 duty is charged.

For example, a product might carry a 10% normal tariff. From the European Union, the total stays at 10% and no Section 301 duty applies. This is in contrast to a country like Vietnam, where a product carries a standard 10% tariff plus 12.5% for forced labor, bringing the total to 22.5%.

Some tariff lines set the duty as an amount per unit rather than a percentage. For those, the notice directs CBP to divide the duty payable by the customs value to find the equivalent percentage.

Importers should ask their customs broker to model both mechanics before committing to a sourcing change.

Can a Country Have the Tariffs Removed?

Yes, but USTR decides. The presidential memorandum of July 23, 2026 lets the Trade Representative modify or end tariffs, exemptions, or quotas for any economy (91 FR 47717).

The memorandum sets no fixed path for removal. A country that introduces a ban therefore removes the reason for its 12.5% rate, although USTR still decides whether and when to lower it.

Ten economies have already promised to enact bans, but USTR hasn’t announced whether their rates will change. Importers should treat a country’s current rate as a working figure rather than assuming it will be lower in the future.

Product Exemptions and Scope

The forced labor tariffs cover a wide range of US imports, and the exemptions are narrow. 

What the Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs Cover

The duty applies to every product from the 60 economies unless USTR exempted it. The full product lists are in the annexes to the Federal Register notice. One annex applies to all named economies, and separate parts list exemptions for individual economies.

Exemptions are given to specific products and countries, never to companies. No individual importer or supplier can apply for exemption, so even the strongest labor record won’t remove the duty from a company’s goods.

Trade preference programs waive the normal tariff on qualifying goods from certain countries. They do not waive the Section 301 duty. A product can enter free of its normal tariff and still owe 10% or 12.5%, unless USTR exempted it directly, as it did for qualifying USMCA and CAFTA-DR goods.

Which Products Are Exempt

USTR exempted products on four grounds:

• Raw materials the United States cannot otherwise source
• Products whose taxation would disrupt the wider economy
• Products that cannot be grown or made in sufficient quantity in the United States
• Products where a duty would not push the exporting country to change its forced labor laws

The main exclusions are:

• Goods already subject to Section 232 tariffs. These include articles of aluminum, steel, and copper and their derivatives, passenger vehicles and light trucks, wood products, and patented pharmaceutical articles
• Civil aircraft, their engines and parts, and ground flight simulators
• Articles for pharmaceutical use
• Informational materials, donations, and goods for personal use in accompanied baggage
• Goods of Canada and Mexico that enter free of duty under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)
• Textile and apparel goods of Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, or Nicaragua that enter free of duty under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR)
• A long list of named articles, from oil seeds for sowing and communion wafers to psyllium seed husks and argan oil

USTR was also told to set up a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malaysia. A TRQ lets a set volume enter at a lower rate before the full rate resumes. The volumes would depend on how much U.S. cotton and textile input each country buys. USTR has not yet published a notice creating them, so textiles and apparel from those four countries currently pay the 10% rate.

Importers should check the annex text for a product before assuming an exemption applies, because the lists work by tariff line rather than by product name.

How Exemptions Are Claimed at Entry

Chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) holds temporary duties and trade remedy codes. An importer or its broker enters the relevant Chapter 99 code on the entry summary, and that code tells CBP whether the duty applies or an exemption does. No separate application is involved.

CBP’s guidance sets the codes in three ranges. Codes beginning 9903.05.20 report the duty itself, one range per country. Codes beginning 9903.05.85 claim the general exemptions. Codes beginning 9903.06.01 claim the exemptions specific to one economy.

Chapter 98 of the HTSUS covers special entries, such as U.S. goods returned after export and articles sent abroad for repair. Goods entered under Chapter 98 do not owe the Section 301 duty, with four exceptions. For those four subheadings, CBP charges the duty only on the value of the work done abroad, such as the cost of a repair, rather than on the full value of the article.

Our guide to Section 301 Tariff Exclusions covers eligibility, lists, and how to claim an exclusion in more detail. 

How Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs Differ From the 2018 China Section 301 Tariffs

Section 301 is a legal authority, not a single tariff. USTR uses it to run separate investigations, each with its own duties, and Chinese goods can owe duties from more than one at the same time.

The 2018 action targeted China’s technology transfer and intellectual property practices, and it applies only to products on specific lists. The forced labor action targets 60 economies’ lack of forced labor import bans, and it applies to all goods from those economies unless exempted. Because the two actions are separate, their duties stack.

For example, a Chinese product on a 2018 list can owe its original 2018 duty, a higher strategic-sector rate of up to 100% that USTR added in 2024 for products such as electric vehicles (89 FR 76581), and the 12.5% forced labor duty. Our guide to Section 301 China Tariffs sets out the rates by list and the current status of the 2018 program.

The Legal Challenge to Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs

Small business groups and 25 states are suing to overturn the forced labor tariffs. The U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) has combined the cases as In re Section 301 Forced Labor Cases (No. 26-03555) and chose an importers’ suit as the sample case.

The plaintiffs make three arguments. First, USTR went beyond the authority Congress gave it. Second, USTR did not adequately explain its decision, as the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) requires. Third, Section 301 targets a specific practice by a specific country. The plaintiffs argue that a coordinated action against almost every U.S. trading partner falls outside that purpose, even though USTR ran it as 60 separate investigations.

A three-judge panel heard argument on September 30, 2026. The court then asked both sides for further written argument on five questions, including which part of the statute USTR relied on and whether it should have considered each economy’s level of development. Both sides filed those briefs on October 16, 2026.

In July 2026, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) summarized both sides of the dispute. CRS noted that the action’s scale, covering about 99% of U.S. imports, could lead a court to ask whether Congress clearly authorized a measure that large. Courts apply this test, known as the major questions doctrine, to agency actions with vast economic and political significance.

As of October 19, 2026, the court has not ruled. Duties remain payable, and no route to a refund exists unless the court sets the determinations aside. Importers with significant exposure should quantify the duties paid by entry and confirm which entity is the importer of record. They should also track liquidation dates and keep the records, so they can act quickly if the position changes.

What Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs Mean for Supply Chain Due Diligence and Supplier Risk

Three consequences follow for procurement, sustainability, and trade compliance teams.

1. Country of origin now carries a price. Teams can calculate their tariff exposure from the spend-by-country data they already hold.
2. A 12.5% rate points to weaker legal protections. Countries in the 12.5% group have no forced labor import ban and have not committed to one. Suppliers there operate without that legal check, which belongs in a risk assessment regardless of the duty cost.
3. Supplier markets will change. Ten economies have promised the U.S. they will enact import bans. Once those bans take effect, suppliers in those countries will face forced labor screening at home that they do not face today.

Procurement, sustainability, and trade compliance teams should take these five steps in addition to existing supplier due diligence, rather than running them separately.

• Map spend by country against the four rate groups, keeping the stacking and ceiling mechanics apart.
• Separate Section 307 exposure from tariff exposure in the risk register. Each needs different evidence and usually a different owner.
• Start with sectors exposed to both Section 307 enforcement and the tariff. Based on USTR’s findings and the UFLPA priority list, those are solar and polysilicon, cotton, and textiles and apparel.
• Test exemption eligibility at tariff-line level before repricing. A Section 232 overlap, a USMCA or CAFTA-DR claim, or a Chapter 98 entry can remove the duty.
• Track the quota notices if sourcing apparel from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, or Malaysia.

These steps add to supplier due diligence but do not replace it. If CBP detains a shipment under Section 307, a documented record of Tier 1 due diligence, showing supplier engagement and corrective action over time, strengthens the importer’s case. That record covers direct suppliers only. It does not trace raw materials back to their source, so companies sourcing cotton or polysilicon will also need dedicated traceability. Our blog Forced to Act sets out the practical steps.

FAQs

Which countries pay the Section 301 forced labor tariff?

The 60 economies USTR investigated, which together account for 99.4% of U.S. imports. They include China, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The rate table above lists all 60 and shows what each pays.

What is the difference between this action and CBP’s UFLPA enforcement?
The Section 301 tariff is a duty that USTR charges because an exporting country has not banned forced labor imports. UFLPA is a ban that CBP enforces against goods linked to the XUAR or to listed companies. One taxes goods over a country’s laws. The other blocks goods based on their own origin and production.

When did the forced labor tariffs take effect?
July 24, 2026, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time. The duty applies to goods entered into U.S. commerce on or after that moment, so the entry date governs, not the shipping date.

Are there product exemptions from the forced labor tariffs?
Yes. Exempt categories include Section 232 goods, civil aircraft and parts, pharmaceutical-use articles, informational materials, and donations. USMCA goods from Canada and Mexico, CAFTA-DR textiles from six countries, and a long list of named articles are also exempt. The annexes to the Federal Register notice hold the definitive lists.

Why is the tariff rate different for some countries (10% vs. 12.5%)?
A country pays 10% if it bans forced labor imports, operates a partial ban, or has promised the United States it will introduce one. Every other investigated country pays 12.5%.

Can a country be removed from the list if it changes its enforcement practices?
Yes, at USTR’s discretion. Introducing a ban removes the reason for a 12.5% rate, and the presidential memorandum lets USTR modify or end the tariffs for any economy. USTR decides whether and when.

Can strong supplier performance exempt our goods from the duty?
No. The duty is set by country of origin and tariff line, and relief runs to products and countries rather than to companies. Evidence about a supplier’s labor conditions helps if CBP detains a shipment under Section 307, but it does not change the rate.

Are the forced labor tariffs being challenged?
Yes. Small business groups and 25 states have sued at the Court of International Trade, which heard argument on September 30, 2026, and has not ruled. Duties remain payable in the meantime.

Sources last verified: Checked against USTR, CBP, the Federal Register, and the Court of International Trade docket on October 19, 2026.