Trade Probes Widen to 60 Countries, Including Canada, Over Forced Labor

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office has widened its Section 301 trade investigations to 60 countries, including Canada, on the grounds that governments have failed to stop goods made with forced labor from entering their markets, the Canadian Press reported. The expansion came on Thursday evening, a day after the office opened separate probes into excess industrial capacity in the European Union and other economies.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said “governments have failed to impose and effectively enforce measures banning goods produced with forced labor,” according to the Canadian Press. He told CNBC on Friday that the office is trying “to move very quickly,” the Canadian Press reported. If investigators find unfair practices such as subsidies, excess capacity or forced labor, the U.S. would try to resolve them with each country, he said, and if that fails, tariffs would follow.

A legal analysis published by Legal500 said the investigations began March 12 and cover the vast majority of U.S. trade; the Federal Register notice also gives March 12 as the start date. Under the Trade Act of 1974, a practice is treated as unreasonable if it is a persistent pattern of conduct that permits any form of forced or compulsory labor, the analysis said. The notice, which Legal500 also summarized, sets April 15 for public comments under docket USTR-2026-0133 and April 28 for public hearings.

If the office finds harm, the analysis said, remedies could include tariffs or other import restrictions, including an import ban, or an agreement requiring a country to stop the practice or pay compensation. It said there are no statutory caps on rates, though measures must be proportionate.

The probes follow the Supreme Court’s decision last month invalidating the administration’s earlier tariffs. The Canadian Press reported that Trump then imposed a 10 percent worldwide tariff under Section 122, which can rise to 15 percent and expires after 150 days unless Congress extends it. Legal500 said the U.S. was expected to pivot to new tariff authorities.

Canada’s exposure is particular. The Canadian Press said the tariff under Section 122 does not apply to goods that comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, but Canada still faces separate Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos and cabinetry. A spokesperson for Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Ottawa is aware of the probe and will work with its partners in the agreement on a North American approach to forced labor, according to the Canadian Press. The Federal Register notice says Canada, Mexico and the European Union have adopted measures intended to stop the importation or sale of forced-labor products.

Legal500 reported that Canada amended its customs law in 2020 to prohibit forced-labor imports (and later added child labor and supply-chain reporting legislation), but that enforcement has been limited, with one known seizure linked to forced labor. By comparison, it said, the U.S. has banned such imports for a long time and has seized billions of dollars in suspect goods, especially since the 2021 Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

The investigation could also become a bargaining issue in the joint review of the trade agreement, which Legal500 said begins in July. The Canadian Press reported that the U.S. has started review talks with Mexico but not Canada, and that Trump has called the pact “irrelevant.”