Breaking: Trump Aims to 'Punish' Indonesia and 60 Other Nations

The United States is preparing new ‘punishments’ for 60 countries. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) is reportedly proposing new tariffs targeting many nations over an alleged failure to ‘act against forced labour’.

According to government filings reported by AFP, the tariffs range between 10% and 12.5%. These rates are currently undergoing a ‘public response’ period before a final decision is reached.

This move follows investigations launched by Washington several months ago into its trading partners, including China, the European Union (EU), and Japan. The investigations examine whether these partners have taken action against imports of goods produced via forced labour and whether this impacts US trade.

While the specific list of sanctioned countries remains unclear, the USTR stated on Tuesday that 54 countries have ‘failed to implement and effectively enforce import bans on forced labour’. China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom are among them.

Additionally, a group of countries has been identified as ‘not effectively implementing such bans’. Indonesia is included in this group, alongside Canada, Ecuador, the EU, Mexico, and Pakistan.

‘The failure of our most important trading partners to address imports of goods made with forced labour is unacceptable,’ said USTR official Jamieson Greer in a statement. ‘This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field,’ he added.

However, the proposed tariffs include various exceptions, such as beef, coffee, certain fruits, and nuts. Goods from Canada and Mexico that comply with North American free trade agreements will also be exempt, as will certain textiles and finished garments.

US citizens have been invited to provide written comments by 6 July, after which the USTR will hold hearings.

Import tariffs have been a flagship economic and trade policy for President Donald Trump since taking office for his second term. However, the US Supreme Court overturned several of Trump’s tariffs in February. Trump’s officials have since launched new trade investigations as a step towards implementing more permanent tariffs. In addition to the forced labour investigations, US trade envoys have also initiated probes into industrial overcapacity.