KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — Malaysia, among ASEAN countries, faces the lowest tariff of 10 per cent under the United States' new Section 301 tariffs following failure to impose and effectively enforce forced labour import rules.
Apart from Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia are also among ASEAN countries that are facing 10 per cent duties.
This follows an announcement by the US Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Jamieson Greer released in Washington on Thursday.
He said the USTR is taking final action at President Donald Trump’s direction, under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, by imposing tariffs on 60 economies for their failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour.
"Today’s action comes after the Office of USTR investigations, which included two rounds of public hearings, more than 2,100 public comments, and engagement with our trading partners to remedy these longstanding concerns," Greer said.
He added that this would also improve the welfare of workers everywhere and correct human rights abuses and distortive trade practices.
"I am encouraged by the trading partners who have moved quickly to adopt forced labour import prohibitions, and look forward to ensuring their effective enforcement," Greer said.
The USTR said that for an economy that imposes a forced labour import prohibition or has committed to impose and enforce such a prohibition through an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade or has imposed a partial regime with the effect of preventing the importation of certain forced labor goods, it determined that 10 per cent is the appropriate rate of Section 301 duties, with specific economies subject to a 10 per cent rate net of a product’s most-favoured-nation (MFN) duty.
For every other economy, it has determined 12.5 per cent is the appropriate Section 301 duty rate, with specific economies subject to a 12.5 per cent rate net of a product’s MFN duty.
The USTR has also determined, to establish, when feasible, tariff rate quotas for Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malaysia, based on each economy’s importation of US inputs, to encourage the importation by each of these economies of US cotton and textile goods, and to reduce reliance on inputs from other sources that are more likely to contain forced labour inputs.
