Section 301 Forced Labor Tariffs: From 60 Investigations to the Final Action

What are the Section 301 forced labor tariffs?

Section 301 duties of 10 percent or 12.5 percent on products of 60 economies have been in force since 12:01 a.m. ET on July 24, 2026. They are the final action in the investigations USTR opened on March 12, 2026 into whether each economy's failure to impose and enforce a ban on goods made with forced labor burdens U.S. commerce. The notice of action is published at 91 FR 47318 (FR Doc. 2026-15181, July 28, 2026). The duties are filed under HTSUS headings 9903.05.20 through 9903.05.84, one heading per economy, with the exemptions at 9903.05.85 through 9903.06.21. They have no fixed sunset like Section 122's 150 days; the only statutory termination mechanism is the four-year review under 19 U.S.C. 2417(c).

The final action: what took effect on July 24, 2026

USTR determined on June 2, 2026 that the practices at issue in each of the 60 investigations are actionable, published a proposed action on June 5, and, on the President's direction of July 23, 2026, imposed duties effective for goods entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after 12:01 a.m. ET on July 24, 2026. CBP's entry instructions went out the evening before in CSMS #69326983.

The essentials for importers:

• Two headline rates, plus caps. 10 percent on products of 17 economies: Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom. 12.5 percent on the other 38 flat-rate economies, China included (heading 9903.05.31). Five economies are capped rather than surcharged: for the EU and Taiwan the Section 301 duty tops up the Column 1 rate to a combined 10 percent, and for Japan, South Korea and Switzerland to a combined 12.5 percent, so a product whose MFN rate already meets the cap pays no Section 301 duty.
• Filing mechanics. CSMS #69326983 assigns one heading per economy in the 9903.05.20 to 9903.05.84 range (Canada 9903.05.29, China 9903.05.31, Mexico 9903.05.55) and sets the trade remedy reporting order: the Section 301 heading first, then Section 232, then Section 201, ahead of the Chapter 1 to 97 classification.
• Note 52 exemptions. Articles subject to Section 232 duties, listed by program in Note 52(f) (steel, aluminum and copper articles and derivatives, passenger vehicles and parts, medium and heavy vehicles and parts, wood products, semiconductors) under heading 9903.05.90; products of Canada entered free of duty under USMCA (9903.05.93) and products of Mexico entered free under USMCA (9903.05.94); civil aircraft meeting general note 6 (9903.05.88); listed pharmaceutical-use articles (9903.05.89); the HTS provisions listed under 9903.05.86 and the particular articles under 9903.05.87; CAFTA-DR textile and apparel goods of the six CAFTA-DR partners entered free of duty (9903.05.95); products for personal use in accompanied baggage; and goods properly entered under Chapter 98, except that 9802.00.40, .50, .60 and .80 stay dutiable on the foreign value added.
• In-transit relief. Goods loaded on a vessel and in transit on the final mode of transit before 12:01 a.m. ET on July 24, and entered before 12:01 a.m. ET on July 28, 2026, escaped the duties (heading 9903.05.85).
• No sunset. The Section 122 surcharge these duties replaced expired by its own terms at 12:01 a.m. on July 24, 2026 (Proclamation 11012). A Section 301 action has no fixed sunset; it terminates only at a four-year review under 19 U.S.C. 2417(c) if no continuation request is filed.
• Textile TRQs. The notice directs USTR to establish, when feasible, tariff-rate quotas for Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia tied to each economy's imports of U.S. cotton and textile inputs.

The USMCA exemption changes the preference math: a valid USMCA claim on Canadian or Mexican goods avoids the 10 percent layer entirely, which turns every unclaimed preference into a bigger leak than it was in June. If eligible-origin entries are going through dutiable, that duty is recoverable within the post-summary window; see our coverage of FTA qualification at scale. GingerControl identifies and documents the opportunity; your licensed broker or counsel files.

Why did the U.S. investigate forced labor practices in 60 economies?

The investigations followed the Supreme Court's invalidation of IEEPA tariffs and served a dual purpose: addressing a humanitarian concern about an estimated 28 million people globally in forced labor (per the International Labour Organization) while also providing legal authority for the administration to reimpose tariffs under a different statutory framework than the struck-down IEEPA.

For almost 100 years, U.S. law has prohibited the importation of goods produced with forced labor under Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930. USTR found that none of the 60 economies had both adopted and effectively enforced a comparable import prohibition: 54 had failed to impose one at all, and six (Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico and Pakistan) had one on the books but had failed to enforce it effectively.

Last updated: September 18, 2026

Which economies are covered, and at what rate?

The 60 economies span every major U.S. trading region. The notice of action assigns each one a heading and a rate:

Rate	Economies
10 percent	Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom
Combined cap of 10 percent (Column 1 plus Section 301)	European Union member states, Taiwan
Combined cap of 12.5 percent	Japan, South Korea, Switzerland
12.5 percent	Algeria, Angola, Australia, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Guyana, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam

The 10 percent group is the set of economies that already impose a forced labor import prohibition, committed to one through an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, or run a partial regime that keeps out certain forced-labor goods. Several economies also carry product-specific exemptions in Annex II of the notice, so the heading text for your origin is the place to check.

The March initiation had flagged textiles and apparel, critical minerals, fisheries and palm products as sectors of concern. The final action is not sectoral: it applies to all products of each economy subject to the exemptions above. The one sector-specific mechanism is the textile TRQ for the four South and Southeast Asian economies.

How Does Section 301 Authority Work?

Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 authorizes USTR to investigate and take action against foreign trade practices that are unjustifiable, unreasonable, or discriminatory and that burden or restrict U.S. commerce. The statute distinguishes between two categories:

Mandatory action applies when USTR finds a violation of a trade agreement or practices that are "unjustifiable." Discretionary action applies when practices are "unreasonable or discriminatory," which is the standard USTR applied in the forced labor investigations.

Critically, Section 301(d)(3)(B)(iii)(III) specifically identifies a "persistent pattern of conduct that permits any form of forced or compulsory labor" as unreasonable. This provision gave USTR a direct statutory hook.

Unlike the now-invalidated IEEPA tariffs, Section 301 tariffs are not subject to practical time or rate limitations. Section 301 has survived court challenges in the past, including the Federal Circuit's decision upholding USTR's authority in the original China Section 301 action. This makes Section 301 a more durable legal basis for sustained tariff programs.

Ambassador Jamieson Greer stated at initiation: "These investigations will determine whether foreign governments have taken sufficient steps to prohibit the importation of goods produced with forced labor and how the failure to eradicate these abhorrent practices impacts U.S. workers and businesses." (USTR press release, March 12, 2026)

What was the timeline from investigation to duties?

Date	Milestone
March 12, 2026	60 investigations initiated; Federal Register notice March 17 (91 FR 12884)
April 15, 2026	Written comments and hearing requests due
April 28 to May 1, 2026	Public hearings
June 2, 2026	USTR determination that the practices are actionable in all 60 investigations; report issued
June 5, 2026	Proposed action published for comment
July 23, 2026	Presidential direction on the final action; CBP issues CSMS #69326983
July 24, 2026	Duties effective at 12:01 a.m. ET, the same minute the Section 122 surcharge expired
July 28, 2026	Notice of action published, 91 FR 47318

At initiation, Deborah Elms of the Hinrich Foundation told CNBC the timeline looked unrealistically short for 60 simultaneous investigations. USTR met it with a day to spare.

How does this connect to the broader tariff strategy?

The forced labor action is the second wave of Section 301 actions following the Supreme Court's IEEPA ruling. On March 11, 2026, USTR had initiated a separate set of Section 301 investigations into excess manufacturing capacity targeting 16 economies, which run on their own track.

The two-stage design worked as described at the time. Section 122 of the Trade Act supplied a temporary 10 percent global surcharge for 150 days as a bridge, and the Section 301 forced labor duties replaced it the minute it expired. Legal analysts at Mayer Brown had predicted in March that the investigations would produce country-specific tariffs "close, if not identical to, the IEEPA tariffs previously deemed unlawful."

GingerControl's Tariff Briefing delivers daily curated digests of tariff policy changes and HTS database updates, saving compliance teams approximately two hours of daily reading. With the Section 301 layer now live and the excess capacity investigations still open, staying current on policy shifts is operationally critical. Try the Tariff Briefing

What Should Importers Do Now?

1. Confirm the rate for each origin. Pull the heading for every country you source from in the 9903.05.20 to 9903.05.84 range and note whether it is a flat 10 or 12.5 percent or a combined cap. For the EU, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland, the Column 1 rate decides how much, if any, Section 301 duty applies.

2. Work the Note 52 exemptions line by line. Section 232 articles, USMCA-free Canadian and Mexican goods, general note 6 civil aircraft, listed pharmaceutical-use articles and the 9903.05.86 and 9903.05.87 lists are all outside the layer. Product-specific exemptions in Annex II vary by economy.

3. Claim every USMCA preference you can document. On Canadian and Mexican goods a valid claim removes the whole 10 percent. Unclaimed preferences on eligible entries are money on the table.

4. Check the reporting order on entries with several Chapter 99 lines. CBP wants the Section 301 heading first among trade remedies, then Section 232, then Section 201, before the Chapter 1 to 97 classification. Entries that carry Section 232, Section 338 and forced labor Section 301 lines at once are now common.

5. Model landed cost with the layer in place. GingerControl's Tariff Calculator covers the full U.S. tariff stack across 200+ countries, so you can see how the Section 301 duty sits on top of MFN, Section 232 and Chapter 99 for each origin and re-run sourcing comparisons on the new numbers.

FAQ

What is a Section 301 investigation?

A Section 301 investigation examines whether acts, policies, or practices of a foreign country are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce. If USTR makes an affirmative determination, it can impose tariffs, withdraw trade concessions, or enter binding agreements with the foreign government. Section 301 has been used most notably in the China trade actions beginning in 2018, and in the 2026 forced labor action covering 60 economies.

Can Section 301 tariffs be higher than the IEEPA tariffs were?

Yes. Unlike Section 122 (capped at 15% for 150 days, and expired July 24, 2026) or the invalidated IEEPA tariffs, Section 301 tariffs have no statutory rate ceiling and no fixed sunset; the only termination mechanism is the four-year review under 19 U.S.C. 2417(c). The original China Section 301 tariffs reached as high as 25% on lists of products, and some rates were temporarily raised to 145% during escalation periods.

How is the forced labor tariff different from the UFLPA?

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) creates a rebuttable presumption that goods from China's Xinjiang region are produced with forced labor and authorizes CBP to block those imports. The Section 301 forced labor action is broader and works differently: it found that 60 economies had failed to adopt and enforce their own forced labor import prohibitions, and it responds with tariffs of 10 or 12.5 percent on their products rather than with import bans.

Do all 60 economies face the tariffs?

Yes. USTR found the practices actionable in every one of the 60 investigations and imposed duties on the products of each economy, with the Note 52 and Annex II exemptions. The rate is 10 percent for the 17 economies that impose or have committed to a forced labor import prohibition, a combined cap of 10 or 12.5 percent for the EU, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland, and 12.5 percent for the remaining 38.

When did the Section 301 forced labor tariffs take effect?

At 12:01 a.m. ET on July 24, 2026, for goods entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after that time. Goods loaded and in transit on the final mode of transit before then and entered before 12:01 a.m. ET on July 28, 2026 were exempt. The notice of action was published on July 28, 2026 at 91 FR 47318.

Which Chapter 99 headings carry the forced labor duties?

Headings 9903.05.20 through 9903.05.84, one per economy, in U.S. note 52 to subchapter III of Chapter 99. Headings 9903.05.85 through 9903.06.21 carry the exemptions and the product-specific carve-outs, including 9903.05.90 for Section 232 articles and 9903.05.93 and 9903.05.94 for USMCA-free goods of Canada and Mexico.

How can GingerControl help importers model the Section 301 forced labor tariffs?

GingerControl's Tariff Calculator models the full U.S. tariff stack, including base duty, Section 232, Section 301 and Chapter 99, with country-by-country comparisons across 200+ countries. This lets importers compare landed cost by origin and test sourcing alternatives. The Tariff Briefing provides daily updates on policy changes. Try it free

---

The Section 301 forced labor duties, the Section 232 programs and the new Section 338 duties on Canadian goods make the current stack the most layered in modern practice. GingerControl's Tariff Calculator models every layer of the U.S. tariff stack so you can see your exposure by origin before the next entry.

GingerControl is not just a tool. We work with importers and trade compliance teams on process consulting, digital transformation strategy, and end-to-end custom system development. Talk to our team

---

References

[REF 1] Federal Register, USTR, "Notice of Actions in Section 301 Investigations of Acts, Policies, and Practices of Various Economies Related to the Failure of Each Economy To Impose and Effectively Enforce a Prohibition on the Importation of Goods Produced With Forced Labor" Data cited: rates by economy, July 24, 2026 effective date, in-transit relief, Note 52 exemptions, headings 9903.05.20 to 9903.06.21, textile TRQs Source: 91 FR 47318, FR Doc. 2026-15181 Published: July 28, 2026

[REF 2] CBP, CSMS #69326983, Section 301 forced labor entry instructions Data cited: heading per economy, reporting order, effective date Source: CSMS #69326983 Published: July 23, 2026

[REF 3] USTR, "Initiates 60 Section 301 Investigations Relating to Failures to Take Action on Forced Labor" Data cited: 60 economies, investigation scope, Ambassador Greer statement Source: USTR press release Published: March 12, 2026

[REF 4] Federal Register, "Initiation of Section 301 Investigations" Data cited: investigation timeline, comment deadlines, hearing dates, docket numbers Source: Federal Register notice Published: March 17, 2026

[REF 5] Federal Register, Proclamation 11012 of February 20, 2026, Section 122 surcharge Data cited: 150-day term, expiry at 12:01 a.m. on July 24, 2026 Source: 91 FR 9339 Published: February 25, 2026

[REF 6] CNBC, "U.S. launches fresh Section 301 probes into 60 economies" Data cited: Deborah Elms commentary on timeline Source: CNBC article Published: March 13, 2026

[REF 7] Mayer Brown, "New Section 301 Investigations on Countries Regarding Manufacturing Overcapacity and Forced-Labor Enforcement" Data cited: expectation of IEEPA-equivalent tariffs, ILO statistics on forced labor Source: Mayer Brown insight Published: March 2026

[REF 8] Congressional Research Service, "Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974" Data cited: statutory framework, Federal Circuit decision Source: CRS report IF11346 Published: March 2026

Related Articles

• Section 301 and Excess Manufacturing Capacity: What the New Investigations Target
• How Tariff Stacking Works
• Importing from Canada: USMCA, Duty Rates, and Customs Costs