By Ed Frankl


The European Union said Wednesday that new proposed U.S. tariffs are "unjustified" following an investigation into goods allegedly produced by forced labor.

The U.S. Trade Representative's office said Tuesday that it would impose additional levies on goods imports from the EU and 59 other economies related to what it called a failure to "effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor."

For some economies such as the EU, the U.K., Mexico and Canada, the levy would be 10%, while in others, including China, India, Japan and Switzerland, that tariff would be a higher rate of 12.5%.

"The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable," said USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer. "This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field."

EU Trade Spokesman Olof Gill said the bloc would carefully analyze the findings of the U.S. probe--which was initiated in March--and proposed actions and would continue engaging with the Trump administration.

"That said, the EU considers tariffs imposed on these grounds to be unjustified," he said. "As we made consistently clear throughout this process, the EU fully shares the U.S.'s concerns about forced labor and remains fully committed to eradicating it from global supply chains through concrete actions."

The proposals come only a few weeks after the EU lawmakers approved a trade deal agreed with the U.S. last year that caps tariffs at 15% on most European goods imports.

Gill added the EU expects the U.S. to fully respect the terms of the agreement, and that Brussels would continue to ensure that the interests of the EU are fully protected.

"As we have said in the past, a deal is a deal."

The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year struck down many of President Trump's global tariffs. The new proposed tariffs come under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, which could sidestep the Supreme Court's ruling.

The Court of International Trade, a federal trade court, in May also said Trump didn't have the authority to implement new 10% global duties imposed using a different legal authority. Greer said last month that those tariffs could potentially be reimposed.

The new proposed tariffs are subject to public comment. The USTR said it will hold hearings about the proposals on July 7.


Write to Ed Frankl at edward.frankl@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

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