USTR Chief, Washington Post Spar Over US Forced-Labor Tariffs

The US government last month imposed tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on 60 countries, including South Korea, saying they were not doing enough to stop the circulation of goods made with forced labor.

That rationale has since triggered a public clash between The Washington Post and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

The dispute began with a June 3 editorial in The Washington Post. The newspaper wrote that forced labor is "a form of modern slavery" and "an abhorrent practice." It said the US has banned forced labor under the 13th Amendment and Title 18 of the US Code, and has maintained a ban on imports made with forced labor for nearly a century.

One prominent example is the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. Enacted in 2021, the law recognized China's abuses against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang and barred products made there from entering the US.

The editorial argued that the tariffs were applied too broadly, lumping together countries such as China, where forced labor is clearly documented, and countries where it is not. That, it said, showed the real motive was not simply ending the exploitation of foreign workers. Instead, it argued the administration turned to the measure in April 2025 while searching for an alternative tariff tool.

Greer responded aggressively. In a letter sent to The Washington Post on June 11, he wrote that "The Washington Post may be the only one defending a laissez-faire approach to modern slavery." He also argued that the newspaper's opposition clearly stemmed from hostility toward President Donald Trump.

Greer said Trump had focused on forced labor since his first term and had tried to address the issue. He cited the first Trump administration's success in getting Mexico and Canada to adopt import bans on goods made with forced labor. He also said nine countries joined reciprocal trade agreements containing such provisions.

"American companies and workers are bearing enormous compliance costs to eradicate forced labor from US supply chains, while other countries are not," Greer wrote.

Even with Greer defending Trump, Washington largely appears to agree on what the new forced-labor tariffs are meant to do. Trump himself has repeatedly said he wants a new alternative tariff mechanism. The bigger question is how persuasive the justification is, and that issue appears to carry less weight than it once did.

Forced labor is a global problem, and advanced economies benefit from it through access to cheap goods. According to 2023 data from Walk Free, the Group of 20 imports $468 billion of products linked to forced labor each year. Of that total, the US alone accounts for $169.6 billion, or roughly half. The products were mainly electronics, clothing, palm oil, solar panels and textiles.

Several G20 countries also rank high by the number of people subjected to forced labor. India has 11 million, China 5.8 million, Russia 1.9 million, Indonesia 1.8 million, Turkey 1.3 million and the US 1.1 million. North Korea, at 2.6 million, and Pakistan, at 2.3 million, are not part of the G20 but also have large forced-labor populations. North Korea in particular has been identified as the country where forced labor is "most prevalent."

The US figure of 1.1 million may look relatively small by comparison, but it suggests the country cannot be considered fully free of forced labor or human trafficking. The Department of Labor also acknowledges that human trafficking and forced labor occur in the US. On its website, Labor Secretary Markwayne Mullin said many people see forced labor as only an international issue, but it occurs closer to home than many think. He added that despite freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, forced labor still exists in the US today. Citing data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline, the department said about half of labor trafficking cases are reported in retail and housekeeping, while 20% involve domestic work, 9% restaurants and 8% construction.

Lee Sang-eun, Washington correspondent, Hankyung.com, selee@hankyung.com