The U.S. Court of International Trade heard arguments on Sept. 30 over President Donald Trump’s tariffs on goods from 60 trading partners that the administration imposed after concluding those partners failed to block goods made with forced labor.
The United States already bars goods made with forced labor, including a presumption against products from China’s Xinjiang region. The recent tariffs instead hit 60 trading partners for failing to ban or police such goods themselves. Those challenging the tariffs call the forced labor rationale a pretext for another worldwide duty.
The hearing was the third court fight over the same global tariff plan. A three-judge panel in New York heard challenges to 10 percent and 12.5 percent duties under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that took effect July 24 and cover approximately 99.4 percent of U.S. imports from 60 trading partners, including the European Union. Small importers and 25 states argued in separate litigation that the forced labor rationale is a pretext for replacing two earlier global tariff programs that courts previously struck down….