US tariff threat over forced labour looks like old wine in a new bottle

This move, though, is not about protecting the US economy and rebalancing trade. Instead, the rationale is to blame all those governments for the prevalence of forced labour in global supply chains, and the harm it does to US commerce. That is, of course, laughable. Many of those countries have domestic labour laws and protections as well as those against modern slavery within global supply chains that are far superior to the US’. Even China and the EU, which are on the verge of a trade war, are united in denouncing the renewed tariff threat. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said…