Council of Trade Unions says possible US tariffs are a 'bad faith project'

The Council of Trade Unions (CTU) says it would welcome efforts to remove forced labour from the supply chain, but the issue is being used disingenuously by the US to justify sweeping tariffs.

New Zealand could soon face a new 12.5 percent tariff from the United States, as the Trump administration cracks down on 60 countries it says aren't doing enough to prevent the importation of goods made by forced labour.

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) says 54 economies - including New Zealand - "have failed to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition" on goods produced with forced labour, which it says "is unreasonable and burdens or restricts US commerce".

It's proposing an additional 12.5 percent duty on this group of countries, which also includes Australia, the United Kingdom, India, Russia, China and Singapore.

CTU president Sandra Grey told RNZ New Zealand still lagged behind other parts of the world in legislating against modern slavery, but the investigation was a "bad faith project" by the US.

"The US is not really doing an investigation to support workers who are in forced labour situations or child labour. They're doing it because they want to find another reason to slap tariffs on countries that aren't quite meeting the president's expectations."

Forced labour was a huge issue in global supply chains, she said.

"CTU would welcome a proper and worldwide attempt to clean up supply chains and make sure that workers, wherever they live, are cared for and that we are all thinking about what we buy and make sure it's ethically produced."

The Modern Slavery Bill recently introduced to Parliament was a good step, but still needed to be strengthened, she said.

It was essential that the new legislation would compel large companies to be aware of the origins of their imports, and the working conditions of the people producing them, she added.

It was also important to look at how trade deals might affect the risk of exposure to goods linked to forced labour, Grey said.

Auckland Business School director of the Centre for Research on Modern Slavery, Christina Stringer, told RNZ the US did have a "very good basis" for its accusation.

"Forced labour occurs in the supply chains of goods that New Zealand companies import and also occurs within New Zealand supply chains domestically," she said.

She said she had been researching migrant worker exploitation in New Zealand for almost 15 years, and had seen five trials relating to human trafficking and slavery in the past 10 years.

"Without question, there are cases of forced labour happening here in New Zealand."

She pointed to a 2022 report from World Vision which said $7.9 billion worth of goods were imported that year with a high risk of links to modern slavery.

It was important for new modern slavery legislation to require companies to conduct "mandatory due diligence" she said.

That would force companies to gain insight into their own supply chains and the origin of their imports, Stringer added.

"In order to really address forced labour and supply chains, disclosure legislation alone is not sufficient."

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