Migrant workers on the job in Norfolk County, Ontario. Photo by Michael Swan/Flickr.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative says Canada has failed to effectively enforce its prohibition on imports made with forced labour and has proposed an additional 10 percent tariff on Canadian goods, though products compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement would be exempt.

Trump’s tariff threat deserves scepticism: after the US Supreme Court curtailed his ability to impose sweeping tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the administration’s new forced labour investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act appears, as observers including former Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole have noted, to reconstruct much of the same protectionist agenda on a different legal foundation.

Even so, Canada’s response has revealed a deeper problem. Our political debate still treats forced labour as something that happens elsewhere, rather than as a risk embedded in Canadian labour and immigration policy.

Canada’s forced labour problem is home grown

Both Washington and Ottawa have framed the issue primarily as a problem of goods crossing the border.

The US trade representative’s notice accused Canada of failing to effectively enforce its ban on imports made with forced labour. Prime Minister Mark Carney responded in kind, pointing to Canada’s supply-chain laws and insisting that “Canada has a very strong legislative regime against forced labour.” Canada’s Military Grievances External Review Committee similarly stated that it “has not been made aware of, nor does it possess, any information indicating that forced labour or child labour has occurred within its procurement activities or supply chain.”

Conservative leader Pierre........

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