Washington: The United States will increase tariffs on Australian products to 12.5 per cent under the guise of human rights, after a trade office process determined Australia and 59 other countries were not doing enough to eliminate forced labour.
The decision means tariffs on Australian goods will rise from 10 per cent, which was the rate set under a temporary measure after the Supreme Court ruled President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” were unlawful.
The Australian government made a submission arguing that Australia maintained a robust legal architecture against modern slavery, albeit in a different form to the US.
But in a notice issued on Thursday (Washington time), the US trade office said it had decided to impose the tariffs anyway, based on public comments, testimony, the advice of its own committee, “and in accordance with the specific direction of the President”.
Dozens of other countries were hit with the new forced labour tariff, although some escaped with a lower 10 per cent rate, including Argentina, Canada, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
More to come
Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.
