1. United States
2. Ariz.
3. Letter

I understand that the temporary tariffs that this president enacted immediately after his previous capricious tariffs were adjudicated unlawful were due to expire today; however he has enacted new tariffs on more than 80 countries citing “forced labor” practices in their supply chains. If this were a true concern of the current administration, they would aggressively combat forced labor in the American labor market. In this country, our constitution enshrines forced labor in the 13th Amendment, granting the government the right to extract labor from those convicted of crimes. As the private prison industry has flourished, imprisoned workers labor for, on average, 13 to 52 cents per hour, usually in industries they would not be allowed to work in after their release due to their criminal convictions. They are paid wages that would not be allowable for any other worker and receive not even the benefit of the experience they could otherwise put on a resume. Surely, this administration does not expect Americans or the international community to believe we are horrified by forced labor practices that we use in our own labor market. Congress must end this sham tariff policy and wrest back control of international trade policy.