The European Commission has pushed back against fresh US tariff threats linked to forced labour, calling them “unjustified” and insisting that EU legislation already provides one of the world’s most robust frameworks for banning such products. The dispute risks undermining the fragile trade deal negotiated last summer between US President Donald Trump and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry, Scotland.
On Tuesday, the US administration proposed new 10% tariffs on several trading partners, including the European Union, arguing that insufficient efforts to curb trade in goods produced using forced labour were harming American commercial interests. The proposed duties would stack on top of existing most-favoured-nation tariffs, pushing average US tariff levels above the 15% ceiling set out in the Turnberry agreement.
“A deal is a deal,” said Olof Gill, the Commission’s deputy chief spokesperson, in a statement on Wednesday. “On the EU side, we are on track to ensure implementation of our Joint Statement tariff commitments by the end of June. We expect the US to fully respect the terms of the Joint Statement.”
Legal manoeuvring after Supreme Court defeat
The investigation was launched under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a legal tool that could give the administration an alternative basis for imposing tariffs. This comes after the US Supreme Court ruled in February that Trump had overstepped his authority by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping duties on trading partners.
German MEP Bernd Lange (S&D), the European Parliament’s chief negotiator on the implementation of the Turnberry agreement, wrote on X that after its “defeat before the Supreme Court”, the US administration was “desperately” looking for new legal grounds “to sustain its tariff policy.” He added: “Accusing EU of not doing enough against forced labour is absurd. The EU has adopted the world's most stringent rules against products made with forced labour.”
The EU’s own regulation, adopted in 2024, bans the sale, import and export of products made with forced labour. Gill described the law as “one of the most ambitious instruments of its kind globally.” The Commission will now “carefully analyse the preliminary findings of the investigation,” he said.
The Turnberry deal, which would leave a 15% US tariff on EU goods while the EU eliminates its own duties on US industrial products, has already faced criticism from some MEPs as unbalanced. EU lawmakers are due to vote on the agreement on 16 June. The new tariff threat adds further uncertainty to an already contentious process.
This transatlantic friction comes as Europe grapples with other trade and security challenges. For instance, the Middle East conflict threatens up to 1.3 million EU jobs, the Commission has warned, and the bloc is also seeking Council approval to defend Spain in a €106 million US energy lawsuit. Meanwhile, former EU Commission Deputy Vera Jourová has voiced concerns about the direction of US policy, saying “the United States scares me.”
For now, the Commission is holding firm. “A deal is a deal,” Gill repeated, underscoring that Brussels expects Washington to honour its commitments. Whether the US administration will back down or escalate remains to be seen, but the episode highlights the fragility of transatlantic trade relations even after a hard-won agreement.
