As Trump Readies Forced-Labour Tariffs, Canada Hopes for Another Reprieve

National Post quoted Covington International Trade lawyer Arun Venkataraman in an article examining whether Canada’s USMCA-compliant goods will be spared from new tariffs expected to result from a Section 301 investigation into 60 economies’ enforcement of forced-labour import bans — a probe widely seen as the Trump administration’s effort to rebuild the tariff wall struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in February.

Arun cautioned against assuming that past exemptions will carry forward, telling National Post that “rather than having the same type of duty-free approach that has been the core of NAFTA and USMCA, I think there are probably questions as to whether that needs to be revisited, certainly from the U.S. perspective.” He added that the exemptions offered under IEEPA and Section 122 “should not be seen as a reliable guide for how the U.S. will approach tariffs in USMCA negotiations.”