An import ban will also hurt American families by raising prices and limiting consumer choices. Discouraging child labor in other countries is near impossible to implement unilaterally. Child labor can be abolished only so far as societies are able, out of their own interest, to recognize and act on the need to limit the work of children. To achieve progress against child labor, developing countries have to address the root causes in the popular culture and institutions of their own societies. It is a complicated global problem that will not be solved by implementing U.S. trade restrictions.
Children work in other countries for a variety of reasons.
The most important is poverty. Child labor often helps ensure the survival of their family and themselves. Children are often prompted to work by their parents. According to one study, parents represent 62 percent of the source of induction into employment. Though children are not well paid, they still serve as major contributors to family income in developing countries.