Lawmakers Reach Agreement on Uyghur Forced Labor Bill
Senate and House lawmakers reached an agreement on compromise text that merges versions of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act from each chamber, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., tweeted on Dec. 14. "Happy to report that Senator [Marco] Rubio & I just reached an agreement on final text of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," McGovern said. "We will be moving our bill through both chambers & to President Biden's desk as quickly as possible." The bill would add a rebuttable presumption that goods from the Xinjiang region of China are made with forced labor starting 180 days after enactment.
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The bill would also require the government to hold a public comment period and hearing on how to trace goods and what supply chain management techniques can be used to ensure that no goods made with Chinese forced labor is being imported, and then, within 180 days, to develop a strategy on how to prevent the importation of these goods. Part of that process will be to create guidance for importers with information on what "type, nature and extent of evidence" CBP needs to see to believe that Chinese goods were not produced in Xinjiang or by minority groups working in factories against their will outside that province.