Canada may be facing new tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration over alleged claims that Ottawa is not effectively preventing the importation of products made through forced labour.
Now, Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that the federal government will soon introduce legislation on forced labour in supply chains. “Canada has a very strong legislative regime against forced labour in supply chains,” said Carney.
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New Potential Tariffs for Canada
The Canada-United-States-Mexico Agreement is reaching its renewal date soon, with it being last renegotiated during the first Trump administration. In 2020, Ottawa changed the wording in a customs law on forced labour rules in the agreement.
According to the White House, Canada has not stepped up forced labour enforcement since then. Among other countries, Canada is being accused by the office of the United States Trade Representative of not enforcing bans on forced labour in a new report. The report notes that Canada has taken “minimal” reported enforcement actions against forced labour products. Additionally, the federal government is accused of failing to effectively enforce its forced labour import prohibition.
“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable. This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field,” said Ambassador Jamieson Greer. “We will no longer tolerate this disparity.”
It also criticizes the Canada Border Services Agency. It describes Canada as a “dumping ground” for re-exports of forced labour products, and says that the border agency does not publish statistics or information on its enforcement efforts.
The report goes on to propose that a 10% additional tariff be placed on Canada, as well as a 12.5% tariff on dozens of other countries that have partial or no bans on forced labour in supply chains.
Carney’s new legislation is expected in the coming weeks.
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