Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the co-chair of the Congressional Executive Commission on China, said that in order to transition as soon as possible to renewable energy without doing so "on the backs of slave labor," the House of Representatives "must pass and the president must sign into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act." The Senate passed a version of this bill in July; a House version was included in the EAGLE Act, which passed out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Merkley's co-chair, Rep Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, said he felt the Senate approach was not strong enough (see 2107290018). Merkley and McGovern are both Democrats.
The House is not clamoring to take up the Senate-passed Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, as Democrats weigh the fact that aligning with the Senate may mean a bill becomes law sooner, with their view that the House approach is stronger.
Importers of goods that were made in Xinjiang, or contain inputs that were mined or grown in Xinjiang, would have to prove to CBP's satisfaction that the goods were not made with forced labor, starting 300 days after the signing of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act if the Senate version is the one that becomes law. The Senate bill, which passed unanimously the evening of July 14, directs the Department of Homeland Security, after consulting with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the departments of Labor and State, to solicit public comments “on how best to ensure that goods made with forced labor in the People’s Republic of China, including by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other persecuted groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, are not imported into the United States.” That public notice would have to follow within 45 days of enactment. The public would have at least 60 days to comment, and a public hearing would follow within 45 days of the end of that period.
Concerns about apparel shipments being detained due to a withhold release order were the biggest worry for U.S. Fashion Industry Association Virtual Washington Trade Symposium attendees, and USFIA customs counsel John Pellegrini told them he had no news to allay their fears.
This year's version of the Senate Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, harmonized with the House version, passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee June 24 by a unanimous voice vote. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., would create a rebuttable presumption that all goods produced in China's Xinjiang region were made with forced labor. Before the vote, Rubio said that there are 1,500 companies located in or near more than 100 mass detention facilities. "This is slavery. As simple as that. American companies argue that their supply chains are clean. What this bill says is: 'Prove it. Especially if it's coming out of Xinjiang.'" Rubio said he expects it will be impossible to prove there's no forced labor involved in the goods in most cases.
Although the Senate Finance Committee's bipartisan amendment to the China package received 91 votes, some prominent Democrats on trade in the House aren't sure how its provisions could move in their chamber, if Republicans don't agree to calling them up under suspension, which requires a two-thirds vote for passage.
Co-chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. and Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. are asking Apple to engage with CBP to ensure that the company's supply chains are free of forced labor, and that they do not hire suppliers that accept "labor transfer" workers. According to press reports, Uyghur workers are being transplanted to other parts of China, in addition to their conscription at local factories and fields. CBP didn't comment.
A senator and a House member who sponsored the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in their respective chambers have asked the union that represents National Basketball Association players to consider the fact that Chinese sportswear companies Anta, Li-Ning and Peak use cotton grown in the Xinjang region. The U.S. blocks the importation of all cotton grown in Xinjiang because of the probability that it was planted or harvested with forced labor of Uyghur Muslims. The National Basketball Players Association didn't immediately comment.
Uyghur Human Rights Project Board Chair Nury Turkel told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that his nonprofit wants swift passage of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which would create a rebuttable presumption that goods from China's Xinjiang province were made with forced labor. "The 11 current Withhold-release orders (WROs) are a wholly inadequate response to the gravity of the crimes, the harm to American workers whose wages are undercut by forced-labor competition, and the unwitting complicity of American consumers who buy face masks, hair weaves, cotton apparel, and solar panels produced by the forced labor of Muslim Uyghurs," he said in his prepared testimony.
As the U.S. Fashion Industry Association's representatives in Washington try to find out timing for a renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, Senate Finance Committee staff members are telling them “there’s a lack of urgency with respect to this” among senators. David Spooner, Washington counsel for USFIA, told an online audience March 30 that Congress seems to think that since importers will get refunds for goods that should have qualified for GSP during this period once it's renewed, it's no big deal. “But we know what a pain in the rear the retroactive renewals are,” he said.