"India bans the import of goods made using forced labour, even as U.S. investigation is pending", 14 July 2026

The government of India has issued a notification banning the import of goods manufactured using forced labour, a significant step towards clearing the path towards the signing of an interim trade agreement with the U.S.

The U.S. is currently in the process of releasing its final decision on the tariffs it plans to levy on countries that it says have not done enough to stop the import of goods made using forced labour.

“The import of goods produced or manufactured, wholly or in part, through the use of forced labour is prohibited,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in its notification…

Under its draft proposal following an investigation, the U.S. found that India and 53 other countries “failed to impose and effectively enforce” prohibitions on the import of goods produced using forced labour. As such, it proposed a tariff of 12.5% on imports from these countries.

Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal confirmed … that India has made its submissions to the U.S. on the matter and has protested the tariffs.

This pending decision has led to significant uncertainty surrounding the India-U.S. trade deal, with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Mr. Agrawal separately saying that India will sign a deal only once it is established that it will receive a comparative advantage over its competitors.

One key factor in establishing this comparative advantage is to see what tariffs the U.S. plans to levy under its various investigations…

According to the notification by the Commerce Ministry, ‘forced labour’ means “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily, as defined under the ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)”…