Congress seeks to block goods from China over forced labour

The House voted 406-3 to declare that any goods produced in the vast Xinjiang region of northwestern China are presumptively made with the forced labour of detained Uighurs and other ethnic minorities, and therefore banned from being imported to the US. If enacted into law, it could have significant ripple effects in global trade by forcing companies to avoid a region that products 80 per cent of the cotton in China, one of the world's top producers of the fibre, as well as tomatoes and manufactured goods.

A bipartisan bill aimed at keeping goods out of the US that are made with the forced labour of detained ethnic minorities in China passed overwhelmingly on Tuesday in the House of Representatives, despite some concerns about the potential economic effects. The House voted 406-3 to declare that any goods produced in the vast Xinjiang region of northwestern China are presumptively made with the forced labour of detained Uighurs and other ethnic minorities, and therefore banned from being imported to the US.

If enacted into law, it could have significant ripple effects in global trade by forcing companies to avoid a region that products 80 per cent of the cotton in China, one of the world's top producers of the fibre, as well as tomatoes and manufactured goods. Members of Congress say the measure is needed to press China to stop a campaign that has resulted in the detention of more than one million Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups under brutal conditions.

"If America does not speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interest, we lose all moral authority to speak about human rights anywhere in the world," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in defending the bill on the House floor. The bill was authored by Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, and had dozens of co-sponsors from both parties. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.

House members also called for passage of a companion bill that would have required all publicly-traded companies in the US to disclose whether any of their goods or any part of their supply chain can be traced to internment camps or factories suspected of involvement in using the forced labour of ethnic minorities in China. That bill was authored by Rep. Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat from northern Virginia whose district is home to one of the largest Uighur communities in the US. A vote on that measure was put on hold, perhaps until next week.

The US Chamber of Commerce opposed both bills, arguing in a letter to House members that the measures would cause companies to cease doing business in Xinjiang altogether, harming legitimate producers and manufacturers, because there is no effective way to inspect and audit suppliers in the region. In the letter, the Chamber urged Congress to develop "targeted foreign policy tools and to work with the business community to combat these abuses".

There is a strong sentiment among Republicans and Democrats to impose penalties on China amid increasingly bitter relations between the two nations over a range of issues, including trade, espionage and the coronavirus outbreak. Some companies and trade groups oppose a region-wide declaration because it puts the burden on private enterprises to ensure an often complex, global supply chain is free of materials that have been produced with forced labour.

Imports made with forced labour have been banned since 1930 to ensure fair trade. Enforcement has increased in recent years and the administration has taken actions against eight companies and entities operating in Xinjiang over the past year. The bills passed on Tuesday would go further, shifting the burden to any company that operates in Xinjiang or buys goods from there to prove their goods are not tainted.

"It's going to require some dislocation," said Rep. Earl Blumenauer. "We may even pay a dime or two more for a pair of socks or a T-shirt." But it is worth it to not be complicit in "horrific oppression", the Oregon Democrat said. Republicans and Democrats have been vocal in their condemnation of China over the treatment of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region. Since 2017, more than a million people have been swept up into vast internment camps where they are subjected to re-education programmes intended to force them to assimilate into the dominant Han Chinese culture.

The Chinese government has portrayed its activities in Xinjiang as part of a campaign against a violent separatist movement and bristles at criticism of what it considers an internal manner. It says the camps are vocational training centres and denies allegations of what US officials and human rights groups say amount to slavery in the region. President Donald Trump signed a legislation in June imposing sanctions on Chinese Communist Party officials over its treatment of the Uighurs and other minorities.

That was the same day as the release of a book from former national security adviser John Bolton, in which he said that Trump told Chinese President Xi Jinping that he was right to build detention camps to house hundreds of thousands of ethnic minorities. Trump later told Axios in an interview that he did not want to jeopardise trade talks with China by penalising the government for its campaign against minorities in Xinjiang.