U.S. House of Representatives Passes Uyghur Forced Labor Bill

In a 428-1 vote yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," which is intended to "[e]nsur[e] that goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China do not enter the United States market." Under current U.S. law, imports from this or other regions can already be prohibited based on evidence submitted that the products were made with forced labor. This bill would create a rebuttable presumption that products from this region are made with forced labor, and evidence would have to put forward showing that forced labor had not been used.

In order for this bill to become law, the Senate would have to pass the House bill, or the differences between a different Senate version that already passed and this House version would have to be worked out and passed by both the Senate and the House.

A key part of the House bill is Section 4, entitled "Prohibition On Importation Of Goods Made In The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region." Sub-section (a) prohibits importation of "all goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, or by persons working with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region government for purposes of the 'poverty alleviation' program or the 'pairing-assistance' program which subsidizes the establishment of manufacturing facilities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region."

Sub-section (b) sets out an exception to the prohibition in circumstances where:

the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection—

(1) determines, by clear and convincing evidence, that any specific goods, wares, articles, or merchandise described in subsection (a) were not produced wholly or in part by convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor under penal sanctions; and

(2) submits to the appropriate congressional committees and makes available to the public a report that contains such determination

In effect, this puts the burden on importers of products tied to this region to present evidence that the products were not made with forced labor.

The bill also calls for "the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, established under section 741 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 4681)," to "submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that contains an enforcement strategy to effectively address forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China or products made by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or members of other persecuted groups through forced labor in any other part of the People’s Republic of China."

In addition, it instructs the Secretary of State to "(1) determine if the practice of forced labor or other crimes against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China can be considered systematic and widespread and therefore constitutes crimes against humanity or constitutes genocide as defined in subsection (a) of section 1091 of title 18, United States Code; and (2) submit to the appropriate congressional committees and make available to the public a report that contains such determination"; and it calls for the Secretary of State "in coordination with the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies" to "submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that contains a United States strategy to promote initiatives to enhance international awareness of and to address forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China."

The bill also calls for the "Imposition of Sanctions Relating To Forced Labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region." In this regard, under sub-section (a) of this section, the President is to "submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that identifies each foreign person, including any official of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, that the President determines— (A) knowingly engages in, is responsible for, or facilitates the forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China; and (B) knowingly engages in, contributes to, assists, or provides financial, material or technological support for efforts to contravene United States law regarding the importation of forced labor goods from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region." Sub-section (b) then says that "[t]he President shall impose the sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to each foreign person identified."

Finally, the bill requires certain publicly listed companies to disclose to the Securities and Exchange Commission "certain activities related to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region."