The Trump administration has proposed a 12.5 per cent tariff on all Australian exports to the United States, targeting good linked to forced labour.
This comes after an investigation by the US Trade Representative examined 60 countries and concluded that none had sufficient measures in place to prevent the import of goods made with forced labour.
As a result, the US has proposed new tariffs on imports from all of these countries, including Australia.
The proposal sets out two possible tariff rates:
- A 10 per cent rate would apply to countries with some form of forced labour import ban, even if incomplete or ineffective. This would impact six countries: Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico and Pakistan.
- A higher 12.5 per cent rate would apply to countries without an effective import ban, impacting 54 nations.
Australia falls into the second category and would therefore face the proposed 12.5 per cent tariff.
In 2025, Australia exported more than $48.5billion worth of goods and services to the US. Its largest single export is beef, worth around $4billion annually.
The proposed 12.5 per cent tariff would increase the cost of Australian goods in the US, making them more expensive for American consumers and importers.
The Trump administration has proposed a 12.5 per cent tariff on all Australian exports to the US. Pictured is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with US President Donald Trump)
Australia’s largest single export to the US is beef, worth around $4 billion annually
‘USTR found that Australia has failed to impose and effectively enforce a forced labour import prohibition,’ the USTR report stated.
‘In section IV, we found that the failure to impose and effectively enforce a forced labor import prohibition is unreasonable.
‘In section V, we found that the failure to impose and effectively enforce a forced labor import prohibition burdens or restricts U.S. commerce.
‘For the foregoing reasons, the results of this investigation indicate that the acts, policies and practices of Australia related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a forced labor import prohibition are unreasonable and burden or restrict US commerce.’
The report did not go into further detail about Australia’s supposed breaches.
A spokesman for Trade Minister Don Farrell said Australia maintains the tariffs are unjustified and inconsistent with the free trade agreement.
‘Australia has robust, comprehensive and world leading legislation addressing forced labour and modern slavery,’ he said.
‘We continue to use every opportunity to advocate that US tariffs imposed on Australia are unwarranted.’
The 12.5 per cent tariff proposed by Donald Trump’s administration would increase the cost of Australian goods in the US
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The higher tariff will also be imposed on Japan and South Korea, along with dozens of other nations, including China, India, Switzerland and the UK.
‘The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable,’ USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer said.
‘This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field.
‘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.’
The USTR also proposes a textile mechanism allowing a set volume of apparel imports from select economies to enter the US at a reduced tariff rate.
The proposed tariffs do not take effect immediately and will be subject to public comment and review.
The USTR has requested written comments by July 6, followed by public hearings.
Its announcement comes ahead of the expiration of a 150-day 10 per cent temporary tariff imposed by the Trump administration in February.
Trump used a little-known trade law to reimplement his sweeping tariffs after the US Supreme Court ruled his trade policies unconstitutional in a landmark 6-3 ruling.
He then became the first president to invoke Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, allowing tariffs of up to 15 per cent for 150 days to address ‘fundamental international payments problems’.
