A public hearing began this week as the Trump administration looks to reinstate one of the most widely hated policies of the president’s second term.

Democratic officials are calling the whole thing a sham. And for good reason.

Tuesday marked the opening of a three-day hearing at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on the administration’s proposal to hit dozens of countries with new tariffs on grounds that these countries have failed to combat forced labor. The Trump administration adopted this approach after the archconservative Supreme Court overruled its previous rationale for tariffs.

The administration outlined its newly proposed tariffs in a report last month, accusing numerous countries of hurting American workers by inadequately fighting the scourge of forced labor. Several of these countries and the European Union have denied the claims.

As I explained at the time, there’s ample reason to question the administration’s true commitment to stemming the crisis of forced labor and human trafficking — in part because of the whole Epstein files thing, as well as the fact that many federal programs that fight forced labor and human trafficking have been gutted in President Donald Trump’s second term.

Ja’han Jones

Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.