Nigeria and 7 other countries face a 12.5% U.S. tariff due to forced‑labour allegations.

By Nkiruka Nnorom

Nigeria and seven other African countries face the possibility of losing broader access to the American market as the United States considers imposing a 12.5 per cent tariff on their exports over alleged failures to eliminate forced labour in supply chains.

The proposal was announced by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) as part of a comprehensive review covering 60 economies worldwide.

In addition to Nigeria, the African countries named are Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and South Africa.

USTR said the affected nations had not implemented or enforced measures strong enough to prevent goods produced with forced labour from entering their markets.

If approved, the penalty would be added to the 10 per cent baseline tariff already imposed under President Donald Trump’s reciprocal trade framework, effectively raising the U.S. tariff on Nigeria to 27.5 per cent.

Unlike the broader measure aimed at correcting trade imbalances, the new tariff specifically targets labour‑related practices.

According to USTR, countries that fail to stop the import of goods produced with forced labour gain an unfair advantage by allowing cheaper products to flood global supply chains, thereby distorting competition and undermining American workers and businesses.

The agency added that this lapse burdens and restricts U.S. commerce by exposing American producers to unfair competition both domestically and abroad, while also diverting goods made without forced labour out of foreign markets and into America.

“The measure is about levelling the playing field,” USTR said in a statement, adding that only economies with credible legal and enforcement frameworks to keep such goods out would be spared.

“Today, the United States Trade Representative determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the acts, policies and practices of 60 economies related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is unreasonable and burdens or restricts U.S. commerce, and are thus actionable under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act,” the agency said.

“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable. This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field,” said the Trade Representative, Ambassador Jamieson Greer.

“We will no longer tolerate this disparity. Some trading partners have taken initial steps to prevent the importation of forced labor goods, including through USMCA and commitments in Agreements on Reciprocal Trade. However, each of our trading partners must do more to ensure that trade does not perversely encourage and entrench forced labor globally,” he added.

The proposal remains under review and has not yet taken effect.

The development comes as Washington tightens scrutiny on trade and immigration links with Africa, part of what officials describe as a shift to “interest‑driven” engagement.

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