On February 18, 2021, the House reintroduced the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (see press and bill) in the 117th Congress. Sponsored by Representatives James McGovern (D-MA), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Thomas R. Suozzi (D-NY), Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Mike Gallagher (R-WI), and Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), the legislation updates H.R. 6210 from the 116th Congress and is introduced less than a month after accompanying legislation from Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

The legislation would:

  • Prohibit all imports from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China unless the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection can certify that the goods being imported to the U.S. are not produced, either wholly or in part, with forced labor and the Commissioner submits to Congress a report outlining such a determination;
  • Authorize the President to apply targeted sanctions on anyone responsible for the labor trafficking of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities;
  • Require financial disclosures from U.S. publicly traded businesses about their engagement with Chinese companies and other entities engaged in mass surveillance, mass internment, forced labor, and other serious human rights abuses in the XUAR;
  • Directs the Secretary of State to submit to Congress a public determination whether the practice of forced labor or other human rights abuses targeting Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the XUAR constitute crimes against humanity or genocide, and directs the Secretary to develop a diplomatic strategy to address forced labor in the XUAR; and
  • Require a strategy report from the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (established by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act) and regular updates on the steps taken to enforce the import prohibition on forced labor made goods from the XUAR.

For more information on actions addressing human rights and forced labor abuses, please see our previous posts below or contact

Joshua Boswell, Jeffrey L. Snyder  Frances P. Hadfield & Clayton Kaier

January 29, 2021 post

Forced Labor/U.K. Modern Slavery Act Archives | International Trade Law (cmtradelaw.com)

 

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Photo of Joshua Boswell Joshua Boswell
Read more about Joshua Boswell
Photo of Jeffrey L. Snyder Jeffrey L. Snyder

Since 1986, Jeff’s practice has concentrated on the U.S. regulation of international trade. Clients seek him out for troubleshooting and problem solving in cross-border transactions. Jeff advises on import, export, and sanctions laws. He develops approaches for multinationals to manage the impact of…

Since 1986, Jeff’s practice has concentrated on the U.S. regulation of international trade. Clients seek him out for troubleshooting and problem solving in cross-border transactions. Jeff advises on import, export, and sanctions laws. He develops approaches for multinationals to manage the impact of U.S. extraterritorial regulations. Jeff assists companies in day-to-day compliance with these laws, and with interventions — such as audits and investigations, and civil enforcement proceedings.

Read more about Jeffrey L. Snyder
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Photo of John Brew John Brew

John Brew is the former chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.

John has extensive experience in import and export trade regulation, collaborating with corporations, trade associations, foreign governments, and nongovernmental organizations on…

John Brew is the former chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.

John has extensive experience in import and export trade regulation, collaborating with corporations, trade associations, foreign governments, and nongovernmental organizations on customs administration, enforcement, compliance litigation, legislation, and policy matters. He represents clients in proceedings at the administrative and judicial levels as well as before Congress and the international bureaucracies that handle customs and trade matters. John advises clients on all substantive import regulatory issues handled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, such as classification, valuation, origin, marking, tariff preference programs, other agency regulations, admissibility, customs brokerage, Section 321, drawback, foreign trade zones, duty recovery programs, import restrictions, quotas, audits, prior disclosures, penalties, investigations, Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and trade compliance programs, importations under bond, the Jones Act, and vessel repairs.

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