The U.S. on Thursday launched new trade investigations into 60 economies to determine whether they failed to curb imports of goods made with forced labor.

The probes, conducted under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974, include China, the European Union, India and Mexico, according to a statement from the United States Trade Representative.

“Despite the international consensus against forced labor, governments have failed to impose and effectively enforce measures banning goods produced with forced labor from entering their markets,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said.

“These investigations will determine whether foreign governments have taken sufficient steps to prohibit the importation of goods produced with forced labor and how the failure to eradicate these abhorrent practices impacts U.S. workers and businesses,” he said.  

Section 301 permits the U.S. to impose tariffs on countries found to have engaged in unfair trade practices without congressional authorization — legal authority that Trump had used during his first term to levy duties on Chinese goods.

The new investigations could ultimately replace at least some of the reciprocal tariffs that the Supreme Court struck down last month.

The forced-labor probes follow Section 301 investigations launched on Wednesday, targeting excess industrial capacity across more than a dozen economies that also included China, the EU and Mexico.

The investigation come as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart He Lifeng in Paris this weekend to continue bilateral trade and economic talks, and weeks ahead of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.