The US on Wednesday has proposed to impose 12.5 per cent tax on India, including China, the UK, and Japan after a USTR trade investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 found that these nations had failed to enforce legal restrictions on importation goods that were produced exclusively or in part with forced labour.The action comes after 60 countries were the subject of investigations by United States Trade Representative (USTR) for allegedly failing to enact and successfully enforce bans on imports created using forced labour.“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labour is unacceptable. This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevelled playing field,” USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer said in a statement.“We will no longer tolerate this disparity,” he added.However, USTR suggested a lower rate of 10 percent for six nations — Pakistan, Canada, Ecuador, the European Union (EU), Indonesia, and Mexico.It has claimed that these nations have shown a commitment to addressing forced labor imports and have pledged to impose and enforce a prohibition on forced labor imports through a formal Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) with the US.Meanwhile, India’s Commerce Ministry said India remains engaged with the US on the matter as a part of Section 301 proceedings. Also, India is also parallelly engaged with the US for finalisation of a framework agreement which was announced on February 2, and in accordance with the joint statement released on February 7.“The proposed tariffs are not yet final and stakeholders can submit requests to participate in public hearings by June 22. Written comments can be submitted until July 6. Public hearings will be held on July 7. USTR will consider the comments and testimony received before taking a final decision on the proposed measures,” according to the statement issued by the Commerce Ministry.Products covered under section 232 tariffs and certain other products are excluded from these tariff proposals. A special mechanism has also been proposed for textile and apparel products that could allow a certain volume of imports from selected economies to enter the US at lower tariff rates, it added.Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (Trade Act), is designed to address unfair foreign acts, policies, or practices affecting US commerce. It may be used to respond to unjustifiable, unreasonable, or discriminatory foreign government acts, policies, or practices that burden or restrict US commerce.Under Section 302(b) of the Trade Act, the Trade Representative may self-initiate an investigation under Section 301.On March 12, 2026, USTR initiated 60 investigations related to the failure of various economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour.Pursuant to Section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Trade Act, USTR provided the public and interested persons with opportunities to present their views through a public comment process and through a public hearing.USTR received testimony of nearly 60 witnesses and 500 comments and rebuttal comments.