---
title: The US Is Taxing 59 Countries Over Forced Labor. Its Own Prison Wages Start at 23 Cents an Hour.
description: Twenty-five states are suing over tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent aimed at forced labor abroad, while US federal prison pay starts at 23 cents an hour.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-08-05T11:26:28.780Z
updated: 2026-08-05T11:26:28.787Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/forced-labor-tariffs-25-states-prison-wages
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/forced-labor-tariffs-customs-barrier-102924.webp
categories: Politics
content_type: News
region: United States
publication: Sovereign Magazine
schema_type: Article
---

The United States has put tariffs on 59 countries and the European Union to drive forced labor out of the goods it imports. The levies, from 10 to 12.5 percent, fall on economies that supply 99 percent of American imports, and the administration says they exist to root out coerced labor in global supply chains. Under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the law it is using, the government has to establish that a country engages in the practice and show how the tariffs would eliminate it.

That is the standard the US is enforcing abroad. It is not the standard inside its own prisons, where work is often compelled, paid in cents, and placed by the Constitution beyond the reach of the ban on involuntary servitude.

## The US Pays Its Own Prison Workers in Cents an Hour

The Bureau of Prisons runs UNICOR, the trade name for Federal Prison Industries, a government corporation Congress created in 1934. Its own website [lists typical pay of 23 cents to $1.15 an hour](https://www.bop.gov/inmates/custody_and_care/unicor_about.jsp), says only 8 percent of work-eligible inmates take part, and puts about 25,000 on the waiting list for a place.

Across state systems the pay is lower. A report by the ACLU and the University of Chicago Law School's Global Human Rights Clinic found incarcerated workers [earn between 13 cents and 52 cents an hour on average](https://www.aclu.org/news/human-rights/captive-labor-exploitation-of-incarcerated-workers), and that in seven states they are paid nothing for the vast majority of assignments. Governments take up to 80 percent of those wages back for room, board and other deductions. Citing Bureau of Justice Statistics data, the report said more than 76 percent of incarcerated workers are required to work or face punishment such as solitary confinement, the loss of family visits, or the denial of a sentence reduction.

The Prison Policy Initiative's tally of state wage rules records that regular, non-industry prison jobs in Alabama are unpaid, and that Arizona pays 15 to 50 cents an hour. The 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, still excludes from its protection anyone held after a criminal conviction.

The tariffs turn on a simple proposition: that goods should not be made with forced labor, and that a government can be held to account for tolerating it in a supply chain. Applied at home, the same test meets a system in which most of the people working say they have no choice, are paid a fraction of a dollar an hour, and are excluded by name from the constitutional clause that would otherwise forbid it.

## The Tariffs Are Being Challenged in Court

The tariffs themselves are contested. Twenty-five states, nearly all led by Democrats, sued the administration this week, arguing the levies revive an import-tax power the Supreme Court struck down in February. Small-business plaintiffs filed earlier, arguing the government never established its case against each economy or showed how the tariffs would end the practice they are charged with, as Section 301 requires. The White House says Section 301 is a durable, lawful tool it has used before.

## FAQ

**Q: What is Section 301, the law behind the new tariffs?**
Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 lets the president impose import tariffs on countries found to engage in unfair trade practices, following an investigation and a public record. Trump used it against China in his first term and those tariffs survived legal challenges.

**Q: What was the IEEPA tariff fight that came before this?**
Trump first used the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose broad tariffs, citing the US trade deficit as a national emergency. The Supreme Court ruled in February that the act did not authorize tariffs, forcing the administration to refund importers before it moved to a temporary worldwide tariff and then to Section 301.

**Q: What is UNICOR?**
UNICOR is the trade name for Federal Prison Industries, a government corporation Congress created in 1934 that employs federal inmates. The Bureau of Prisons lists pay of 23 cents to $1.15 an hour, with 8 percent of eligible inmates taking part and about 25,000 on a waiting list.

**Q: How large are the new tariffs and how many countries do they cover?**
They run from 10 percent to 12.5 percent and apply to 59 countries and the European Union, covering economies that supply 99 percent of US imports.