Congress Is Poised to Pass Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

The legislation has been stalled for more than a year despite overwhelming support in both chambers.

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Lawmakers in the House and Senate reached a deal today to advance a long-stalled bill to block goods made with forced labor from coming into the United States from Xinjiang.

The compromise legislation, sponsored by Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, assumes all products made in part or in whole in Xinjiang are tainted with forced labor. It gives businesses the option to receive exemptions from the import ban if they can prove to U.S. Customs and Border Protection with “clear and convincing evidence” that their supply chains are free of coerced labor. According to aides involved in the discussions, the deal drops stricter reporting requirements for businesses that were included in the House legislation.

It does, however, include a quicker timeline for implementation of the import ban—180 days after enactment of the legislation—which is closer to the House version’s 120 days than the Senate version’s 300 days. 

McGovern said the sponsors “will be moving our bill through both chambers & to President Biden’s desk as quickly as possible.” He officially introduced the new language in the House this afternoon, according to his office. A copy of the text, obtained by The Dispatch, is available here.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    It’s about time something happened about this. Thanks for keeping the spotlight on the issue.

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    Beth

    Thank you for the best coverage of this bill I have seen; I've been looking for more information. I'm immensely glad this passed. I wouldn't describe myself as an excessive consumer, but I have been increasingly concerned about how the purchases I make may implicitly support the genocide without my knowing. This is definitely an area where I feel the federal government should intervene to set the standard and make it as easy as possible for Americans to do the right thing; leaving it to corporations to self-police their way out of Xinjiang hasn't worked.

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  3. James R

    Does this bill also include Chinese companies based outside Xijniang that source cotton from Xinjiang? I recently switch running shoe brand away from 361 Degrees because I read how they source cotton from Xinjiang. Presumably, their shoes will not be barred, but it seems like they should be according to the spirit of this bill.

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      Haley Byrd Wilt vertical-nib Author

      Yes, this should be banned under the bill—the companies don't have to be based in Xinjiang, they just have to source something from there (or related to Xinjiang authorities' forced labor programs that sometimes move Uyghurs out of Xinjiang to work) for a product to be prohibited.

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      1. James R

        Thank you for the response! Keep up the awesome reporting.

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    Andrew

    Thanks for reporting this. Who are the lobbyists who are against the bill?

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  5. Natty Bumpo

    Thanks again for the Uphill reporting. Great info on the proposed legislation to bar importation of goods manufactured with forced labor in Xingkiang.

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    John Parker Ford

    Thank you for the depth of reporting on China. I missed the original story about the shipment of human hair that was stopped — completely heartbreaking. How is this not receiving more media attention?

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    Loren Roberts

    So the bottom line will not longer be the driving force of corporate America and the Chinese are going to repent of their sins? What is the enforcement mechanism for corporations? How do we know, China being a closed society, the source of anything coming from China? Will China allow open inspections? How many days will it take to compromise the inspectors if China would allow them?

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    Sheila M

    Thank you for an informative article about this issue. I appreciate the details about this legislation and what the difficulties in passing it have been. The Uphill newsletter has been my favorite for factual reporting.

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