Nigerian Exports Hit as US Introduces 12.5% Tariff Over Forced Labour Allegations

The US has imposed a 12.5 per cent tariff on imports from Nigeria under a new trade policy targeting countries Washington says have failed to ban the importation of goods produced with forced labour.

The U.S. said it would take such measures against imports from 60 economies that have not “imposed and effectively enforced a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour,” the Office of the United States Trade Representative announced Thursday.

Nigeria is among the countries that will be subject to the 12.5 per cent tariff, while India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico and the United Kingdom will be subject to a lower 10 per cent tariff after implementing or pledging to implement bans on imports associated with forced labour.

This comes after the USTR launched investigations in May 2026 into 60 of the United States’ largest trading partners under Section 301 of the Trade Act.

The agency said it received more than 1,600 written submissions, heard testimony from more than 100 witnesses and consulted with more than 45 governments before announcing the measures.

The USTR said countries that already have, or have committed to, forced labour import prohibitions in place would face a 10 per cent tariff.

“10 per cent is the appropriate rate of Section 301 duties for investigated economies that (i) impose a forced labour import prohibition; (ii) have committed to impose and enforce such a prohibition through an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade; or (iii) have imposed a partial regime with the effect of preventing the importation of certain forced labour goods,” the agency said.

The USTR said in a Federal Register notice that Nigeria will face a 12.5 percent tariff on its exports to the United States, except for products covered by certain exemptions.

Said: “Based on the findings in the investigation of Nigeria, taking into account the public comments, testimony, and the advice of the Section 301 Committee, as well as the advice of advisory committees, and in accordance with the specific direction of the President, the Trade Representative has determined to impose 12.5 percent tariffs on products of Nigeria, except as provided in Annex I and Annex II, Part A, of this Notice.”

The Trade Representative has determined that the tariff rate to be applied and the scope of tariffs and exemptions are appropriate to obtain the elimination of the acts, policies, and practices determined to be actionable in the investigation, in accordance with the specific direction of the President.

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The latest action follows President Donald Trump’s use of Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a temporary universal tariff on imports after a U.S. Supreme Court blocked his administration’s broader tariff plan under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the new tariffs were intended to encourage trading partners to beef up measures against forced labour.

“President Trump acknowledges that decades of moral suasion have not eliminated forced labour from global supply chains,” said Greer.

“The US has had a ban on forced labour imports for nearly a century. It is time our trading partners did likewise.

The USTR said the tariffs would not apply to certain exempted products, such as raw materials that could create domestic supply shortages, goods capable of causing wider economic disruptions, products unavailable in sufficient quantities in the United States or from alternative suppliers, and selected imports from countries that have adopted or pledged to implement forced labour import bans.

Additional exemptions were granted where the tariffs were deemed unlikely to eliminate the trade practices under investigation, it said.