WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Leading U.S. lawmakers proposed legislation on Wednesday aimed at preventing goods made from forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region from reaching the United States.
The legislation would alter existing rules and require importers to obtain certification from the U.S. government that goods were not produced using forced labor by minority Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act was co-sponsored by Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Representative James McGovern, co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC).
The heart of the proposed new law is a “rebuttal presumption” that assumes that all goods manufactured in Xinjiang are made with forced labor and therefore banned under the 1930 Tariff Act, unless the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection certifies otherwise.
