The U.S. Office of the Trade Representative (USTR) has imposed a 12.5% tariff on imports from Nigeria, citing the country’s failure to adopt and enforce a ban on goods produced with forced labour.
The tariff affects imports from 60 economies that Washington says have not imposed and effectively enforced a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour.
The move follows investigations the USTR launched in May 2026 into 60 of the United States’ largest trading partners.
Nigeria is among the countries subject to the 12.5% tariff, while India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico and the United Kingdom face a lower 10% rate after adopting or committing to implement bans on forced-labour-linked imports.
The USTR said it received more than 1,600 written submissions, held public hearings involving over 100 witnesses, and consulted more than 45 governments before announcing the tariffs.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer framed the measure as an effort to push trading partners toward stronger action.
“President Trump recognises that decades of moral suasion have not eradicated forced labour from global supply chains,” Greer said.
He added that the United States has enforced its own forced-labour import ban for nearly a century and that it is “well past time” for trading partners to do the same.
The higher tariff will apply broadly to Nigerian exports to the US, though certain products are exempted under the Federal Register notice.
