The US reps say:

“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable,” Greer said.

“This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field. We will no longer tolerate this disparity.”

(Hmm... am I mistaken in thinking that there are plenty of workers in the US, especially in the agricultural sector, who work (exploited) under such conditions?) Will the US govt demand these workers be paid a legal minimum wage and have decent work conditions? Will these newly invented tariffs benefit the most lowly paid workers in the US?

The Oz reps say:

“Australia has robust, comprehensive and world-leading legislation addressing forced labour and modern slavery,” the spokesperson said.

“Australia maintains our position that any tariffs on Australian exports to the United States are unjustified and inconsistent with our free trade agreement. We continue to use every opportunity to advocate that US tariffs imposed on Australia are unwarranted.”

(Hmm... does the legislation actually do its job comprehensively? Not so sure of that.)

The Human Rights Law Centre says:

Albanese government should immediately strengthen modern slavery laws – including banning imported goods produced with forced labour.

“Buying goods should never come at the expense of someone else’s freedom. The alarm bells have been ringing for a long time in relation to the risk of goods made with forced labour flooding Australian shop shelves,”

(Exactly, perhaps this is a great opportunity for our country to clean up its act.)