USTR Says Policy Review to Seek Gaps in Fighting Forced Labor

Trade Representative Katherine Tai addresses the Geneva Graduate Institute on the role of the World Trade Organization in the global economy and U.S. policy priorities ahead of the 12th Ministerial Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Oct. 14, 2021. (Denis Balibouse/Reuters)

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said on Tuesday it will conduct an interagency review of its trade tools and policies to fight forced labor to determine whether any gaps need to be filled.

USTR said the review, part of its first-ever focused strategy against forced labor, will seek input from labor organizations, forced labor survivors, civil society, and private sector groups.

The agency said it will also work with the World Trade Organization and trading partners Mexico, Canada, and the European Union to advance work aimed at ending forced labor and forced child labor.