House Defense Bill Requires Audits for Chinese Items Sold on Military Bases
The House version of the National Defense Authorization Act includes an amendment from Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., that directs the Pentagon to issue rules requiring companies that sell at military base commissaries and that import either products or materials from the Xinjiang province to audit their supply chains to ensure their goods are not manufactured using forced labor. Companies that discover a connection to Uighur camps or forced relocations would need to tell the Defense Department whether “they intend to continue sourcing from the region if their supply chains are tainted by forced labor,” Wexton said in a news release. The bill passed the House July 21.
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“U.S. law prohibits goods made using forced labor from entering our markets. However, Xinjiang accounts for 84 percent of the cotton produced in China, and is responsible for 1 in every 5 bales of cotton produced globally. Unless proactive measures are taken to prohibit sourcing from Xinjiang, U.S. companies risk being complicit in human rights abuses,” Wexton said on the House floor July 20.