Walled scam compounds across Southeast Asia have expanded into multibillion-dollar enterprises, blurring the lines between trafficking victims and active perpetrators.

Twenty-five U.S. states have filed a lawsuit at the Court of International Trade challenging the Trump administration's new forced-labor tariffs, arguing they are an illegal workaround to replace struck-down import taxes.

The Trump administration has enacted new trade levies affecting sixty economies, replacing temporary global duties that recently expired.

The administration is applying a tiered tariff system to pressure global counterparts to adopt stricter forced labor enforcement. This shift marks a strategic move toward long-term trade enforcement under Section 301 of the Trade Act.