U.S. Tariff Threats Highlight Australia's Risk of Importing Slave-Made Goods
The United States has announced plans to impose a 12.5% tariff on Australian exports, citing Australia's failure to prevent the importation of goods made using forced labor. This move has exposed Australia's vulnerability to becoming a 'dumping ground' for slave-made goods, according to Justine Nolan, director of the Australian Human Rights Institute. The U.S. is pushing for Australia to adopt a forced labor import ban similar to its own, as well as those being implemented by the EU, Mexico, and Canada. Australia's current modern slavery framework, established in 2018, is criticized for being outdated and insufficient to address the scale of the problem. The U.S. trade representative, Jamieson Greer, justified the tariffs by stating that U.S. workers are forced to compete on an unlevel playing field internationally. 
