US Congress Moves to Bar All Goods Made in Xinjiang

By Yi-Hua Lee | VOA News |

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill aimed at banning goods made with forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region, a move seen as increasing pressure on China over its Xinjiang policies.

Passed in a 406-3 vote, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act designates all goods produced, wholly or in part, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as being produced with forced labor unless U.S. Customs and Border Protection “can determine otherwise by clear and convincing evidence.”

“As many as 1.8 million Uighurs and members of other predominantly Muslim ethnic minority groups have been arbitrarily detained in the camps and subjected to forced labor, torture, political intimidation, and other severe human rights abuses,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, who

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said by passing the bill, the U.S. is sending a clear message to Beijing that “these abuses must end now.”

The bill still needs to be passed by the Senate and signed by the president before it would go into effect.

Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said that he hopes the Senate will advance the bill in a quick manner.

“I’m glad to hear the houses moving. I hope that we will move forward here. We’re consulting with the other senators; we’d like to see that go forward,” he told VOA Mandarin.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection banned some imports of cotton, apparel, hair products, computer parts and other goods from Xinjiang, citing concerns over forced labor.

The bill, if passed into law, would put more responsibility on companies to proactively prove that their products are not made with forced labor in Xinjiang.

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