China is set to face heightened scrutiny after the US launched a sweeping trade investigation into alleged forced labour across 60 economies, with particular focus on accusations linked to the Xinjiang region, think tank GTRI said.
The probe, which also covers countries including India, signals Washington’s renewed push to tighten supply-chain oversight through trade enforcement measures.
India’s exports of solar panels, electronics and garments to the US may also face closer scrutiny under this new US investigation, a report published by GTRI observed.
The probe will examine whether countries allow goods produced with forced labour to enter global supply chains.
It will look at two situations — whether forced labour is used directly in production, and whether countries import materials produced with forced labour from other countries and use them to produce goods that are later exported to the US.
On March 12, the US trade representative (USTR) launched a Section 301 probe, covering 60 economies. This is the second Section 301 probe this month.
“The move may be aimed at discouraging countries from abandoning trade deals negotiated with the Trump administration after those agreements lost value following the February 20 US Supreme Court ruling,” GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said in a note.
The GTRI report pointed out that the US argues that if such goods enter international trade through third countries, they can still distort markets by lowering production costs and undercutting legitimate producers.