Australia’s forced labour tariffs introduced by Trump could last for years

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has hit back at proposed new tariffs on Australian exports to the United States.

The US Trade Representative (USTR) yesterday issued a statement listing Australia on a list of countries not doing enough to stop imports of goods made by forced labour. 

Speaking today in Canberra, Chalmers rejected the claim.

“We’ve got world leading legislation in place already to combat the evils of modern slavery,” he said.

“So we will continue to take every opportunity that we can to stand up for Australian exporters and to stand up for the workers and businesses in those industries, who would be right to consider these tariffs as unjustified, unwarranted, unnecessary, and inconsistent with our free trade agreement.”

Australia and more than 40 other nations are facing a new 10-12.5 per cent tariff on the issue.

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“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labour is unacceptable,” trade representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.

“This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field.

“We will no longer tolerate this disparity.”

A 98-page report did not go into details about Australia’s supposed infractions.

“USTR found that Australia has failed to impose and effectively enforce a forced labour import prohibition,” the report stated.

“For the foregoing reasons, the results of this investigation indicate that the acts, policies and practices of Australia related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a forced labour import prohibition are unreasonable and burden or restrict US commerce.”

Other nations like Japan, New Zealand and Canada had similarly brief explanations.

But unlike the current tariffs instituted under emergency laws, these new ones could last for years, Chair of Economics at Adelaide University Susan F Stone told nine.com.au.

“These tariffs can be put in place for long periods of time,” she said.

“That’s what the Trump administration is going for.”

And even under a new administration, the newly proposed tariffs could only be removed after a review.

Stone was confident these new tariffs would be challenged in court.

The legal precariousness stems in large part from Australia’s strict laws against forced labour.

While there have been documented instances of forced labour in Australia, it is something rigorously prosecuted.

“Most countries have this problem,” Stone said.

“Major companies in the US, including Apple and Nike and Amazon, have been accused of some instances of using forced labor.”

In Australia, forced labour is typically seen as working for less than the minimum wage or otherwise being in breach of labour laws.

The tariff would be a blanket tax on Australian imports, the same as Australia faced from Donald Trump’s liberation day tariffs.

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But two of our major exports to the US, pharmaceuticals and beef, will be spared the tax.

While Australia’s 10 per cent rate was at the bottom end of tariffs under the Liberation Day system, this tax would make Australian imports more expensive compared to other nations selling to the US.

But the list of nations cited today was substantial and included many major exporters.

The countries listed are: Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, China, People’s Republic of, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, China, India, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Vietnam.