USTR says 'final' forced labor tariff action to be released as soon as Thursday

WASHINGTON — U.S.

Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer said Wednesday that his office will release its "final responsive action" on its trade investigations into 60 trading partners over forced labor concerns as soon as Thursday, as Korea and other countries await new U.S. tariffs.

Greer made the remarks in a written statement submitted to the Senate Committee on Finance, as U.S.

President Donald Trump's administration is expected to unveil its new tariffs based on the investigations that the USTR had conducted for months since March under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act.

Washington carried out the investigations, as well as separate Section 301 probes into Korea and 15 other economies to uncover "unfair" trade practices related to "structural" excess capacity and production, as it has sought to replace country-specific "reciprocal" tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court in February.

"As soon as tomorrow, USTR will release its final responsive action on its Section 301 investigation of our top 60 trading partners' failure to address international trade in forced goods at the ...