PPI Testimony: Trump Administration Section 301 “Forced Labor” Tariff Proposal Misuses Trade Law, Likely Costs Americans $100 Billion/Year

July 7, 2026
Ed Gresser

WASHINGTON (July 7, 2026) — Today, Ed Gresser, Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), argued that the latest proposal by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to impose tariffs on all major U.S. trading partners under “Section 301” on claims about trade in goods made with forced labor misuses U.S. trade law, and fails to offer any evidence about forced labor imports. Instead, it is merely an attempt to restore President Trump’s illegal 2025 tariffs under a different law, likely costing Americans $100 billion a year.

Gresser, the former Assistant USTR for Trade Policy and Economics, delivered the critique during a public hearing before the Section 301 Committee, a civil servant-level interagency policy review group. He testified that while USTR advertises the tariffs, set out in a June USTR report recommending tariffs of 12.5% and 10% on 60 U.S. trading partners (including the UK, Japan, Canada, the EU, and many others, including nations that already have laws in place banning forced labor) as a way to shield Americans from forced-labor competition, their effect will be quite different. While failing to enforce forced labor rules, they will drive up costs for American families and businesses, such as manufacturers, restaurants, and farmers, as the Trump administration once again tries to create new tariff systems without congressional approval.

“Just as the Trump administration’s IEEPA tariffs last year rested on a bad-faith claim of ‘international emergency,’ its 301 proposal this year uses an important human rights as a pretext for breaching the Constitutional separation of powers and raising costs for Americans,” said Gresser. “This proposal does not meet the standards of Section 301 required to implement tariffs, as it neither offers evidence of actual trade in forced-labor goods nor demonstrates any ‘burden’ on U.S. commerce.”

Highlights from Gresser’s testimony regarding USTR’s report and tariff recommendations include:

The report aims to rebuild President Trump’s IEEPA tariffs, which the Supreme Court struck down last February, contrary to Congress’s intent in drafting Section 301.
The report lacks evidence that any of the 60 economies are actually importing forced-labor goods, instead noting that there is some forced-labor trade in the world, and these countries are “probably” buying some of those goods. Therefore, it does not establish a “burden” on U.S. commerce as the Section 301 statute requires.
The report also lacks evidence that if they were buying forced-labor goods, this would impose a “burden” on American commerce, again falling short of the statute’s minimum requirements.
The Trump administration has reduced U.S. government efforts to eliminate forced labor — canceling all U.S. support for forced labor elimination overseas through DOGE last year and reducing the number of Labor Department inspectors to fight it at home.

PPI does not support broad tariff increases as economic policy, noting that tariffs function as regressive taxes that disproportionately burden lower-income households and goods-intensive industries, including farming, manufacturing, restaurants, retail, and construction. Despite administration hopes that higher tariffs would expand U.S. manufacturing, the sector has shed jobs and lost economic share since 2024.

Read and download the testimony here.

Founded in 1989, PPI is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Find an expert and learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Follow us at @ppi.

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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe – iokeefe@ppionline.org