Why is the US focusing on forced labour?
The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines forced labour as work carried out under threat of penalty and without voluntary consent.
According to the USTR, economies that fail to block such imports create unfair competition by allowing artificially cheap goods into global markets, burdening US businesses.
The 60 economies investigated account for 99.4 per cent of US imports.
“Although it is universally recognised that forced labour is a practice that should not be tolerated, the use of forced labour across the world continues to persist and has even increased in recent years,” the USTR said.
However, Ms Elms said that the US approach lacks clarity.
“All of the materials that I’ve read from the case that was released today don’t really clarify very much what the US is looking for and what it would mean to effectively enforce that,” she told CNA’s Asia First.
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