WCIT Statement on New Section 301 Tariffs

WCIT warns the move raises costs across the region and weakens the very enforcement tools the United States already leads the world on.

For Immediate Release

SEATTLE — WCIT responded to the Trump Administration’s July 23 decision to impose new tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 on imports from 60 U.S. trading partners, citing their failure to impose or effectively enforce prohibitions on goods made with forced labor. The duties generally took effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on July 24.

Most covered goods face additional duties of 10% or 12.5%, while special rules adjust the duties on certain products from the European Union, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland based on existing most-favored-nation tariff rates. The action covers economies that USTR says account for approximately 99.4% of U.S. imports, although numerous products are exempt.

WCIT President Lori Otto Punke issued the following statement:

“Forced labor has no place in any supply chain, but you do not advance that cause by placing a blanket tariff on 60 countries that together cover nearly everything America buys — including our closest allies and the partners who already ban forced-labor goods. That is not enforcement; it is an across-the-board tax wearing a human-rights label. Northwest families and employers will pay more and our supply chains will continue to suffer.”

— Lori Otto Punke, President, WCIT

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