The report from the United States Trade Representative (USTR) that suggests a tariff hike on 60 economies is vague regarding the reasons that led the agency to propose a new 12.5% tariff on Brazilian products.
The 98-page document states that the agency directly consulted the governments of 46 countries, including Brazil, about policies and actions related to forced labor. Initiated on March 12, the investigation held public hearings at the end of April and received 455 submissions from stakeholders on the matter, according to the report.
The USTR says that American law defines forced labor as “all work or service demanded of any person under the threat of any penalty for non-performance and for which the worker does not offer voluntarily.”
The report concludes that the 60 American trading partners subject to the new tariff failed “to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced wholly or partly with forced labor”.
Subsequently, the document provides an account of the practices deemed irregular for each economy. In the chapter on the “investigations results” regarding Brazil, the USTR repeats that the country “failed to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor” and that such practice is considered “inconsistent” and “burdens or restricts United States trade.”
The justifications are the same as those presented the day before by the USTR when proposing a new tariff of 25% after an investigation into Brazilian trade practices.
“Although Brazil claims to prohibit imports produced with forced labor through the implementation of its commitments in investment agreements and free trade agreements, these provisions do not legally prohibit the importation of goods produced wholly or partly by forced labor from another economy into the domestic market for sale,” says the document, before repeating the prior arguments in the conclusion of the chapter on Brazil.
The USTR does not cite concrete cases or any other element that would constitute forced labor practices in the production of goods for export to the U.S. market.
