Nigeria and seven other African countries could lose broader access to the United States market as Washington moves to impose a 12.5 per cent tariff on their exports over allegations that they have failed to curb forced labour within their supply chains.
The proposed measure was announced by the Office of the United States Trade Representative as part of a far-reaching investigation involving 60 economies across the world.
The African countries named in the proposal alongside Nigeria are Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and South Africa.
According to the USTR, the affected countries have not established or effectively enforced measures strong enough to prevent goods produced through forced labour from entering their markets.
Should the proposal receive approval, the additional 12.5 per cent tariff would be added to the existing 10 per cent baseline tariff imposed under President Donald Trump’s reciprocal trade framework. This would effectively increase the tariff on Nigerian exports to 27.5 per cent.
Unlike the broader tariff policy designed to address trade imbalances, the proposed measure specifically targets labour-related practices.
The USTR argued that countries which fail to prevent the importation of goods made with forced labour gain an unfair competitive advantage by allowing cheaper products to enter global supply chains. The agency maintained that such practices distort competition and negatively affect American workers and businesses.
The agency further stated that the failure to stop such imports places a burden on and restricts United States commerce by exposing American producers to unfair competition both within the United States and internationally. It also said the situation diverts goods produced without forced labour away from foreign markets and into the American market.
“The measure is about levelling the playing field,” USTR said in a statement, adding that only economies with credible legal and enforcement frameworks to keep such goods out would be spared.
“Today, the United States Trade Representative determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the acts, policies and practices of 60 economies related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is unreasonable and burdens or restricts U.S. commerce, and are thus actionable under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act,” the agency said in the statement.
“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 the Trade Representative, Ambassador Jamieson Greer.
“We will no longer tolerate this disparity. Some trading partners have taken initial steps to prevent the importation of forced labor goods, including through USMCA and commitments in Agreements on Reciprocal Trade. However, each of our trading partners must do more to ensure that trade does not perversely encourage and entrench forced labor globally,” he added.
The proposed tariff remains under review and has not yet taken effect.
The development comes as the United States increases scrutiny of its trade and immigration relationships with African countries, a move officials say reflects a transition towards a more “interest-driven” approach to engagement with the continent.
