What’s Next for the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

Attention now turns to how the law will be enforced.

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Good afternoon, Uphill readers. Today’s edition focuses on the upcoming implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. This isn’t comprehensive, by any means—there are still a lot of unclear details on what enforcement will look like—and I’m particularly interested in covering how smaller businesses are preparing for this, which I didn’t get into during this piece. If you or someone you know is going to be working on this in the months ahead, feel free to send me an email—haley@thedispatch.com. I’d love to chat. (I also welcome dog photos.)

What Comes Next for the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act?

Congress overwhelmingly approved a ban on imports from the Chinese region of Xinjiang last year, but strong enforcement of the new law depends on how the government navigates an unwieldy set of logistical and political hurdles in the months ahead.

The stakes are high: Countries around the world want to see how implementation of the bill unfolds to determine how to enact their own forced labor prevention measures as China continues its brutal campaign against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. 

Chinese authorities are carrying out a genocide in Xinjiang, including arbitrary mass detentions in concentration camps, involuntary abortions and sterilizations, and a sweeping forced labor regime that has permeated supply chains around the globe. 

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Comments (19)
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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Thanks for covering this, Haley. I’m very glad for this bill.

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  2. Denise

    What is Tesla thinking building a factory in that area? Shouldn’t they be sanctioned in some fashion for this? At some point, everyone needs to get a conscience and forego the profits

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  3. Nick Palma

    Great granular look into this whole process. And to echo previous comments, please update us with companies that seek to undermine this, successfully or not.

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    JohnM.

    Excellent reporting! Certainly comprehensive enough for me anyway at the moment. But, 'dog photos welcome'? Hope you're not swamped! Thanks, Haley.

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    Billehrich85

    This is great reporting. Thanks so much for the valuable work! I talk about this issue with my Economics and International Relations classes, and now I plan to assign this piece for them to read. You're helping to grow informed citizens!

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    1. Avatar photocircle-angle-nib
      Haley Byrd Wilt vertical-nib Author

      Thank you! Bill, you should check if the folks at Kharon would let you show this seminar to your classes—it has some examples of the red flags companies should be looking out for. I think you can sign up for access to it here: https://info.kharon.com/expert/2022/01/forced-labor?utm_campaign=January%202022%20-%20Expert%20Brief%20-%20Forced%20Labor&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=201364688&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_kQIGAHZHGOxI6x5L5gc0Tb9dP-ddfsBGg2uNrgW4qJyBjQFSBp32Em5jbkoklLMLPOrhFryu3dmQBSIEHlJds-jN3CA&utm_content=201364688&utm_source=hs_email

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    S.A.

    I wonder if the same efforts will be applied to India. Modi has been building concentration camps for several years throughout India. They sit vacant but the future occupants have already been defined. There will be a religious purge of Muslims and Christians in India. The facilities are ready, legislation passed requiring proof of being a native of India, its now a matter of EXECUTION.

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      Logical

      I am curious about your news sources in making such outrageous claims. (I am familiar with many).

      India is as contentious a democracy as USA. While the Hindu nationalists have an upper hand today, it is fading fast in some regional elections. The judiciary is independent.

      For every claim you make, you can construct an equivalent parallel in USA, if you approach it with the badfaith distortion analogous to Fox News. Trump Muslim ban is equivalent to India constraining immmigration from Muslim countries (wiithout explicitly stating Muslim in the text...allowing only persecuted minorities from Muslim countries). The cages in the southern border are akin to Modi's intentions to clamp down on immigrants from the eastern border.

      I am not saying India is perfect. But it's politics are as ugly as USA. We are just lucky that core MAGA is only ~ 30%. Things would be real ugly if that # is 50%. Recall Jim Crow?

      This too shall pass.

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        S.A.

        BBC had a segment on this. There was a PBS news hour on this. You are correct in your statements. The build up to a mass incarceration is under the radar. I visit our company sites in India. I have had first hand accounts of the changes on the ground. We have employees who were born in India and have documentation of their families going back to before its independence of being in their home town. But no birth certificates were issued for their parents or grandparents. This is true even for our Hindu employees. We keep track of this because we have several branches in India. We have started looking at other countries to mitigate what might happen there.

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          Logical

          Thanks for the reply. There's definitely smoke, but I believe the Indian Supreme Court checks the worst impulses of Modi.

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  7. Joe Bruno

    All this is a good reason for the United States and its allies to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in China.

    Why should we pay homage to sporting events in a country with China's reprehensible history on human rights?

    The NBA aside, this is our chance to make a statement.

    I won't be watching for not even one minute.

    Sorry, but even the USA Curling team and its brooms will not sway my decision.

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    Dave Conant - MO

    I'm betting that enforcement will, at best, amount to a list like the one Jay Janney asked for. This country has watched and done nothing while China killed millions of its own citizens, effectively annexed Tibet and undertook a level of religious persecution that is tantamount to genocide, obliterated the treaty with Britain regarding Hong Kong and did away with any notions of freedom or democracy the residents might have had, and supported the regime in the DPRK though the development of nuclear capable hypersonic missiles. What leads anyone to think that either party will act in defiance of corporate lobbying efforts to enforce a ban on products made from forced labor? The only effective means of enforcement would be cutting the supply chain and moving it all out of the PRC; not going to happen. The clown who owns the Warriors made the business community's position eminently clear.

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      JeffQ

      Well said, Dave. I, too, am very skeptical that any of the hoped-for benefits for the Uyghur people will materialize.

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        Dave Conant - MO

        Thanks Jeff.

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  9. Charles Gorder

    Well, in light of the comments by one of the Golden State Warriors owners recently, CBP could start by banning all shipments of NBA clothing and other basketball memorabilia from
    China!

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    Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

    As a consumer, something I would love to see is a legit list of products I should avoid buying because of a likelihood of it being made with forced labor.

    Also, thanks for the link to the free at home covid-19 tests. I was able to place an order today.

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      Ben Connelly

      I second that.

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