By: Staff Writer
March 27, 2026
The United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Jamieson Greer, launched Section 301 investigations into acts, policies, and practices of 60 economies relating to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour.
On the list are The Bahamas, Colombia, Costa Rica, The Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.
A release from the USTR’s website said that Greer is launching these investigations pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (Trade Act), which authorizes action to respond to unjustifiable, unreasonable, or discriminatory acts, policies, or practices that burden or restrict U.S. commerce.
Forced labour may be understood as work or service extracted from a person under the menace of any penalty for its non-performance and for which the worker does not offer himself voluntarily.
For almost 100 years, U.S. law has prohibited the importation of goods mined, produced, or manufactured in whole or in part with forced labour. International law also universally recognizes that forced labour should not be tolerated.
However, despite this longstanding consensus, the use of forced labour across the world continues to persist and has even increased in recent years.
For example, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that as of 2021, 28 million people globally are in forced labour, an increase of 2.7 million since 2016.
Companies using forced labour benefit from artificially lower labour costs, and, as a result, are able to sell their goods at a lower price than they would otherwise. This disadvantages U.S. workers and exporters.
Ending forced labour is a key priority and an economic and national security imperative for the United States.
These investigations will focus on 60 top U.S. trading partners, collectively covering more than 99% of U.S. imports in 2024. The 60 trading partners subject to these investigations are listed in the Annex below.
Some trading partners have adopted measures intended to stop the importation or sale of goods produced using forced labour. Additionally, in the context of ongoing U.S. reciprocal trade agreement negotiations, several countries have committed to adopt such measures. However, none of the economies subject to these investigations appears to have both adopted and effectively enforced a forced labour import prohibition to date.
These investigations will examine whether these acts, policies, or practices burden or restrict U.S. commerce, and what action, if any, should be taken.