US House approves second bill aimed at forced labor in China

For second time in two weeks, House on Wednesday approved a bill aimed at cracking down on U.S. imports of goods made with forced labor of detained ethnic mirities in China.

bill would require publicly traded companies in U.S. to disclose wher any of ir goods — or any part of ir supply chain — can be traced to internment camps or factories suspected of using forced labor of Muslim Uighurs or or ethnic mirities in China.

bill, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., was approved 253-163 and w goes to Senate.

Its pass follows approval last week of a bill aimed at barring U.S. imports of goods produced in vast Xinjiang region of rthwestern China on presumption that y were likely made with forced labor. That bill, authored by Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., was approved Sept. 22 on 406-3 vote.

If enacted into law, two proposals could have significant ripple effects in global trade by forcing companies to avoid a region that produces 80% of cotton in China, as well as tomatoes and manufactured goods.

Lawmakers say measures are needed to press China to stop a campaign that has resulted in detention of more than 1 million Uighurs and or predominantly Muslim ethnic groups under brutal conditions.

“If America does t speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interest, we lose all moral authority to speak about human rights anywhere in world,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a floor speech last week.

Wexton, whose rrn Virginia district is home to one of largest Uighur communities in U.S., said her bill would inform investors and markets about active exploitation occurring in one of largest ongoing human rights violations in world.

“For years, government of People's Republic of China has been engd in mass internment of religious mirities in Xinjiang region,'' Wexton said. camps supply materials for some of largest companies in world, "and some of se products are finding ir way to U.S. consumers,'' including cellphones and T-shirts, Wexton said.

While U.S. has long banned imports made with forced labor, traditional human rights monitoring efforts are thwarted in tightly controlled regions such as in rthwestern China, Wexton and or lawmakers said. Travel to area is restricted. Auditors have been detained and threatened, and workers intimidated, y said.

Wexton's bill directs U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to issue rules requiring publicly traded company to issue yearly reports disclosing imports that originate in or are sourced from Xinjiang, because of strong likelihood y were made with forced labor.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes both House bills, arguing y would likely cause U.S. companies to cease doing business in Xinjiang altoger. That outcome would harm legitimate producers and manufacturers, because re is effective way to inspect and audit suppliers in region, chamber said.

group urged Congress to develop “targeted foreign policy tools and to work with business community to combat se abuses.”

Lawmakers from both parties have called for penalizing China amid increasingly bitter relations between two nations over a range of issues, including trade, espion and coronavirus outbreak, which started in Chinese city of Wuhan.

Some companies and trade groups oppose a region-wide declaration because it puts burden on private enterprises to ensure an often complex, global supply chain is free of materials that have been produced with forced labor. A n-governmental organization, Worker Rights Consortium, says about 1 in 5 cotton garments sold in U.S. contain content from Uighur region.

two House bills will likely “require some dislocation,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. “We may even pay a dime or two more for a pair of socks or a T-shirt,″ he added, but price is worth it to avoid being complicit in “horrific oppression.″

Since 2017, more than a million people have been swept up into vast internment camps where y are subjected to re-education programs intended to force m to assimilate into dominant Han Chinese culture.

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 calls camps vocational training centers and denies allegations by U.S. officials and human rights groups that camps amount to modern slavery.

Earlier this month, U.S. blocked four companies and a manufacturing facility in rthwestern China from shipping ir products to U.S. because of ir suspected reliance on forced labor.

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