Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill to Target Companies Profiting From China Forced Labor
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., reintroduced a bill that could impose “secondary sanctions” on companies doing business with entities that have been sanctioned for Uyghur-related human rights abuse in China’s Xinjiang region. The Sanctioning Supporters of Slave Labor Act, which was also introduced last year (see 2208020061), aims to better hold companies “accountable” for doing business with businesses tied to forced labor, Rubio said July 19. He said companies that “continue to do business with these sanctioned entities can still access the U.S. financial system,” adding that “not only should China’s genocidal regime answer for the crimes they are committing but also the companies that profit from these atrocities.”
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Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., introduced companion legislation in the House, saying the White House hasn’t sanctioned a “single firm” using the authorities from the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, which was passed in 2020. “The Biden Administration is dragging its feet and slow rolling bipartisan efforts to hold the Communist Party accountable for Uyghur slave labor,” Banks said. The White House didn’t comment.