Court Orders Trump to Declare List of Countries using Forced Labour for Section 301 Tariff

[ABS News Service/06.11.2026]

The Court of International Trade three judge panel considering a challenge to President Trump’s decision to impose Section 301 tariffs on countries for failure to keep products made with forced labor out of their markets is asking the plaintiffs involved to provide lists of the countries whose products they import.

The judges ordered plaintiffs in the case to “file declarations notifying the Court of any relevant countries and/or economies from which Plaintiffs in all cases import” by November 10.

The judges did not say how this information might factor into their decision. But during oral arguments September 30, both judges and the attorney representing the group of small businesses raised the possibility of providing tariff relief just for the some two dozen countries the firms do business with.

The case, In Re Section 301 Forced Labor, is a consolidation of a handful of separate complaints brought by US small businesses and state governments following the decision to impose Section 301 tariffs over forced labor allegations.

Arguments

The Administration argues that the tariffs are necessary to comply with US law banning imports made with forced labor. But the plaintiffs say Section 301 requires country-specific findings that the US Trade Representative’s Office did not provide. They allege the Administration’s decision to impose the tariffs so broadly, including on countries that actually have strong records on keeping products made with forced labor out of their supply chain had less to do with forced labor, than it did attempting toreinstate the global reciprocal tariffs that were struck down by the Supreme Court.

Those tariffs, imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, had to be repealed and the US government was required to issue refunds of tariffs paid, resulting in the loss of a revenue stream the White House had been counting on.

The Administration is seeking to have the case dismissed.