Washington. America has taken a very big and strict step regarding global trade and human rights. America has started a comprehensive investigation against 60 major economies of the world including India. The main objective of this investigation is to find out what concrete steps have been taken by these countries at their level to stop the import of goods made with ‘forced labour’. US Trade Representative (USTR) Jameson Greer has expressed deep concern over this issue and clarified that despite international consensus, many countries have completely failed to implement it effectively. With India coming under the ambit of this investigation, it is likely to impact Indian exporters and trade policies in the future.

The development comes a day after Greer announced the Trump administration’s plan to launch an investigation into the manufacturing practices of 16 economies to determine whether they “burden or hinder” US trade. India was also included in this list. Not only India, but countries like Pakistan, China, Russia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Venezuela and Cambodia are also among the 60 countries which are under the US investigation announced regarding imports and forced labour. See the complete list here…

Algeria
Angola
argentina
Australia
bahamas
cambodia
bahrain
bangladesh
brazil
Canada
chile
China
Colombia
costa rica
dominican republic
Ecuador
egypt
el salvador
European Union
guatemala
Guyana
honduras
hong kong
India
Indonesia
Iraq
israel
Japan
Jordan
kazakhstan
Kuwait
Libya
malaysia
Mexico
morocco
new zealand
nicaragua
Nigeria
norway
oman
Pakistan
peru
philippines
Queue
Russia
saudi arabia
Singapore
South Africa
south korea
Sri Lanka
Switzerland
taiwan
Thailand
Trinidad and Tobago
Türkiye
united arab emirates
united kingdom
uruguay
Venezuela
vietnam

Why has America started this investigation?
This investigation will be done under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974. This is the same law under which the investigation into the manufacturing processes of 16 economies was earlier announced. Jameson Greer said that through this investigation, US officials want to find out whether countries have taken steps to stop the import of goods made with forced labor, and what impact their failure to do so has on US businesses.