US hits Singapore with 12.5% tariffs, citing failure to ban imports produced with forced labour

SINGAPORE: The United States will impose a 12.5 per cent tariff on select Singapore goods from Friday (Jul 24), after concluding that the country does not have sufficient measures to block imports produced wholly or in part with forced labour. The move follows a US Section 301 investigation into 60 trading partners over their alleged failure to enforce bans on imports of goods produced with forced labour. The US Trade Representative concluded in June that 54 of these economies, including Singapore, China and Britain, “failed to impose and effectively enforce a forced labour import prohibition”, and proposed a 12.5 per…