This piece was originally published in Sourcing Journal on 3-24-26.
By Tara Winter
Recent headlines have made one thing clear: forced labor has officially entered the trade war.
The Trump administration’s move to investigate 60 trading partners for forced labor under Section 301 of the Trade Act—with the potential to impose tariffs—marks a turning point. What was once treated as a human rights issue is now being squarely reframed as a question of economic competition at the heart of global trade. The US Trade Representative has said confronting forced labor is an “economic and national security imperative for the United States.”
A Changed Landscape for Companies
For companies, the implications are immediate. The model of plausible deniability of forced labor in corporate supply chains is no longer viable. Businesses must investigate what is happening in the development of their products and address it before regulators do. Equally, for investors, forced labor is no longer a reputational issue to be managed. It is a material risk that can disrupt the operations of their portfolio companies and destroy value.
The fact that the US administration is using forced labor as justification to potentially re-impose tariffs is proof of how widespread forced labor is. The ILO estimates that 28 million people around the world are in conditions of forced labor, nearly 40 percent of whom are women and girls and 12 percent of whom are children. While companies have made commitments to address the issue, their attempts have fallen short. Workers continue to take on debt to pay fees for jobs they cannot repay, face coercion, endure discrimination, and work without access to representation to challenge the system.
The current landscape provides a unique and powerful opportunity to address one of the most egregious human rights abuses of our time. It gets the issue of forced labor onto the front pages of newspapers, onto the negotiating table between governments, and into corporate board rooms.
Making Enforcement Work for Workers
However, attention alone is not enough. If enforcement becomes purely punitive—tariffs imposed without addressing the underlying abuse—it risks leaving workers jobless, still in debt, and even more vulnerable. It also creates an easy escape: production simply shifts to the next country not yet under scrutiny.
The goal should not be to punish countries. It should be to end exploitation.
That requires a different approach. As Section 301 investigations move forward, the administration should prioritize a phased strategy—one that gives countries a clear path and timeframe to address forced labor entering their countries before tariffs are imposed. That approach must be backed by investment in the capacity of national actors to develop effective policy, identify abuses both in imported goods and in domestic production, remediate, and prevent recurrence.
Most importantly, any effective approach must give workers the power to speak up, organize, and act without fear. Without the freedom to organize and bargain collectively, forced labor will persist—no matter how many laws are passed or shipments are blocked. Worker voice is the only durable check on the conditions that enable exploitation: debt, discrimination, and suppressed wages.
The Role of Forced Labor in Trade
The investigations announced this month are just the latest sign that forced labor is becoming a central feature of trade policy. Recent U.S. trade agreements increasingly require partners to adopt forced labor import bans, and in some cases to recognize U.S. enforcement actions. At the same time, U.S. authorities are detaining more goods at the border.
The European Union is moving in the same direction. Its Forced Labour Regulation, set to take effect in 2027, will ban the sale of all products made with forced labor. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement already requires all three countries to prohibit such imports.
Import bans are proving to be one of the most effective tools for capturing corporate attention when voluntary efforts fall short.
Transparentem has seen this firsthand. Our investigation into apparel factories in Mauritius uncovered migrant workers from Bangladesh going into debt to pay recruitment fees for jobs that they could not repay, leaving them trapped in bonded labor. Some factories we named in our report responded, repaying the workers, and changing their practices. The one factory that ultimately did not became the subject of a US import ban.
In Taiwan, following several investigations by Transparentem and other independent investigators, US Customs placed an import ban on a major bicycle brand, triggering a response across several industries and strengthening the case for remediation more broadly. In the textile sector, Transparentem’s investigations resulted in more than $6 million in recruitment fee repayments to workers, and the Government of Taiwan has announced plans for more comprehensive regulation around forced labor.
On a larger scale, US customs has detained thousands of shipments under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). Entire sectors—from cotton to polysilicon—have had to reassess sourcing practices. For many companies, UFLPA has done what years of voluntary commitments did not.
Seizing the Opportunity
Trade policy can be a powerful driver of change on forced labor—but only if workers remain at the center and if the US acts in partnership with their trading counterparts.
Handled poorly, it could backfire. The latest investigations have already prompted countries like Malaysia to step back from their proposed trade agreement with the U.S. that included strong forced labor provisions. Indonesia has halted ratification of its deal, and key garment-producing countries—including Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand—are now reconsidering their commitments.
The Section 301 process creates a critical window to get this right. With written submissions due April 15 and public comments at the end of April, stakeholders have an opportunity to weigh in on whether countries are establishing and enforcing meaningful forced labor prohibitions. That input has the potential to help shape how the 301 investigations are handled and the ultimate impact they have on workers.
This is a rare moment. Forced labor is now squarely on the global trade agenda. Enforcement tools are expanding, and corporate attention is engaged. It is our collective responsibility to ensure we use it to drive accountability—and real change—for workers.
Tara Winter is Executive Director of Transparentem, a nonprofit that conducts worker-centered investigations into forced labor in global supply chains and engages companies, investors, and policymakers to drive remedy. She previously spent 15 years in senior leadership at the ILO/IFC Better Work program and a decade at Business for Social Responsibility.