Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 1155 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 22, 2022 Received AN ACT Ensuring that goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China do not enter the United States market, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jan 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1155.RDS H1155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1155 RDS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Uyghur Forced Labor 2 Prevention Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) In the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Re- 6 gion of China, the Government of the People’s Re- 7 public of China has, since 2017, arbitrarily detained 8 as many as 1.8 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, 9 and members of other Muslim minority groups in a 10 system of extrajudicial mass internment camps, in 11 addition to arbitrarily detaining many in formal 12 prisons and detention centers, and has subjected de- 13 tainees to forced labor, torture, political indoctrina- 14 tion, and other severe human rights abuses. 15 (2) Forced labor exists within the Xinjiang 16 Uyghur Autonomous Region’s system of mass in- 17 ternment camps, and throughout the region, and is 18 confirmed by the testimony of former camp detain- 19 ees, satellite imagery, official media reports, publicly 20 available documents, official statements, and official 21 leaked documents from the Government of the Peo- 22 ple’s Republic of China as part of a targeted cam- 23 paign of repression of Muslim ethnic minorities. 24 (3) In addition to reports from researchers and 25 civil society groups documenting evidence that many 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jan 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1155.RDS H1155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1155 RDS factories and other suppliers in the Xinjiang Uyghur 1 Autonomous Region are exploiting forced labor, the 2 Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and 3 Security on July 22, 2020, added eleven entities to 4 the entity list after determining the entities had 5 been ‘‘implicated in human rights violations and 6 abuses in the implementation of China’s campaign of 7 repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor 8 and high-technology surveillance against Uyghurs, 9 Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority 10 groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Re- 11 gion’’. 12 (4) Audits and efforts to vet products and sup- 13 ply chains in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Re- 14 gion are unreliable due to the extent forced labor 15 has been integrated into the regional economy, the 16 mixing of involuntary labor with voluntary labor, the 17 inability of witnesses to speak freely about working 18 conditions given government surveillance and coer- 19 cion, and the incentive of government officials to 20 conceal government-sponsored forced labor. 21 (5) The Department of State’s June 2020 Traf- 22 ficking in Persons Report found that ‘‘Authorities 23 offer subsidies incentivizing Chinese companies to 24 open factories in close proximity to the internment 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jan 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1155.RDS H1155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1155 RDS camps, and to receive transferred detainees at sat- 1 ellite manufacturing sites in other provinces. Local 2 governments receive additional funds for each in- 3 mate forced to work in these sites at a fraction of 4 minimum wage or without any compensation.’’. 5 (6) U.S. Customs and Border Protection has 6 issued 11 ‘‘Withhold Release Orders’’ on products 7 suspected to be produced with prison or forced labor 8 in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Prod- 9 ucts subject to the ‘‘Withhold Release Orders’’ in- 10 clude all cotton, cotton products, tomatoes, and to- 11 mato products as well as certain garments, hair 12 products, apparel, computer parts, and other prod- 13 ucts. 14 (7) In its 2019 Annual Report, the Congres- 15 sional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) 16 found that products reportedly produced with forced 17 labor by current and former mass internment camp 18 detainees included textiles, electronics, food prod- 19 ucts, shoes, tea, and handicrafts. 20 (8) Reports in 2020 indicated that, in recent 21 years, People’s Republic of China Government au- 22 thorities had organized a labor training and transfer 23 system on a mass scale. Under this system, hun- 24 dreds of thousands of rural residents of the Tibet 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jan 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1155.RDS H1155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1155 RDS Autonomous Region participated in ‘‘military-style’’ 1 training, ideological education, and vocational train- 2 ing before being transferred to job postings in the 3 Tibetan Autonomous Region or elsewhere in China. 4 The similarity of the Tibet Autonomous Region sys- 5 tem to that in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Re- 6 gion raised fears that coercive practices or rights 7 abuses may be taking place in the Tibet Autonomous 8 Region. 9 (9) Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 10 U.S.C. 1307) states that it is illegal to import into 11 the United States ‘‘goods, wares, articles, and mer- 12 chandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly 13 or in part’’ by forced labor. Such merchandise is 14 subject to exclusion or seizure and may lead to 15 criminal investigation of the importer. 16 (10) The policies of the Government of the Peo- 17 ple’s Republic of China are in contravention of inter- 18 national human rights instruments signed by that 19 government, including— 20 (A) the Universal Declaration of Human 21 Rights and the International Covenant on Civil 22 and Political Rights, which the People’s Repub- 23 lic of China has signed but not yet ratified; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jan 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1155.RDS H1155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 1155 RDS (B) the International Covenant on Eco- 1 nomic, Social, and Cultural Rights, ratified by 2 the People’s Republic of China in 2001; and 3 (C) the United Nations Protocol to Pre- 4 vent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Per- 5 sons, Especially Women and Children (Palermo 6 Protocol), to which the People’s Republic of 7 China has been a state party since February 8 2010. 9 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 10 It is the policy of the United States— 11 (1) to prohibit the import of all goods, wares, 12 articles, or merchandise mined, produced, or manu- 13 factured, wholly or in part, by forced labor from the 14 People’s Republic of China and particularly any such 15 goods, wares, articles, or merchandise produced in 16 the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China; 17 (2) to encourage the international community 18 to reduce the import of any goods made with forced 19 labor from the People’s Republic of China, particu- 20 larly those goods mined, manufactured, or produced 21 in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; 22 (3) to coordinate with Mexico and Canada to ef- 23 fectively implement Article 23.6 of the United 24 States-Mexico-Canada Agreement to prohibit the im- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jan 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1155.RDS H1155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 1155 RDS portation of goods produced in whole or in part by 1 forced or compulsory labor, which includes goods 2 produced in whole or in part by forced or compul- 3 sory labor in the People’s Republic of China; 4 (4) to actively work to prevent, publicly de- 5 nounce, and end human trafficking as a horrific as- 6 sault on human dignity and to restore the lives of 7 those affected by human trafficking, a modern form 8 of slavery; 9 (5) to regard the prevention of atrocities as in 10 its national interest, including efforts to prevent tor- 11 ture, enforced disappearances, severe deprivation of 12 liberty, including mass internment, arbitrary deten- 13 tion, and widespread and systematic use of forced 14 labor, and persecution targeting any identifiable eth- 15 nic or religious group; and 16 (6) to address gross violations of human rights 17 in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region through 18 bilateral diplomatic channels and multilateral insti- 19 tutions where both the United States and the Peo- 20 ple’s Republic of China are members and with all 21 the authorities available to the United States Gov- 22 ernment, including visa and financial sanctions, ex- 23 port restrictions, and import controls. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jan 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1155.RDS H1155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 1155 RDS SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON IMPORTATION OF GOODS MADE 1 IN THE XINJIANG UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS RE- 2 GION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 4 (b), all goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, 5 produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the 6 Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, or by per- 7 sons working with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Re- 8 gion government for purposes of the ‘‘poverty alleviation’’ 9 program or the ‘‘pairing-assistance’’ program which sub- 10 sidizes the establishment of manufacturing facilities in the 11 Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, shall be deemed to 12 be goods, wares, articles, and merchandise described in 13 section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307) 14 and shall not be entitled to entry at any of the ports of 15 the United States. 16 (b) EXCEPTION.—The prohibition described in sub- 17 section (a) shall not apply if the Commissioner of U.S. 18 Customs and Border Protection— 19 (1) determines, by clear and convincing evi- 20 dence, that any specific goods, wares, articles, or 21 merchandise described in subsection (a) were not 22 produced wholly or in part by convict labor, forced 23 labor, or indentured labor under penal sanctions; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jan 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1155.RDS H1155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 HR 1155 RDS (2) submits to the appropriate congressional 1 committees and makes available to the public a re- 2 port that contains such determination. 3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 4 on the date that is 120 days after the date of the enact- 5 ment of this Act. 6 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT STRATEGY TO ADDRESS FORCED 7 LABOR IN THE XINJIANG UYGHUR AUTONO- 8 MOUS REGION. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Forced Labor En- 11 forcement Task Force, established under section 741 of 12 the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementa- 13 tion Act (19 U.S.C. 4681), shall submit to the appropriate 14 congressional committees a report that contains an en- 15 forcement strategy to effectively address forced labor in 16 the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China or 17 products made by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, 18 or members of other persecuted groups through forced 19 labor in any other part of the People’s Republic of China. 20 The enforcement strategy shall describe the specific en- 21 forcement plans of the United States Government regard- 22 ing— 23 (1) goods, wares, articles, and merchandise de- 24 scribed in section 4(a) that are imported into the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jan 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1155.RDS H1155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 HR 1155 RDS United States directly from the Xinjiang Uyghur 1 Autonomous Region or made by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, 2 Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or members of other persecuted 3 groups in any other part of the People’s Republic of 4 China; 5 (2) goods, wares, articles, and merchandise de- 6 scribed in section 4(a) that are imported into the 7 United States from the People’s Republic of China 8 and are mined, produced, or manufactured in part 9 in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or by 10 persons working with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autono- 11 mous Region government or the Xinjiang Production 12 and Construction Corps for purposes of the ‘‘poverty 13 alleviation’’ program or the ‘‘pairing-assistance’’ pro- 14 gram; and 15 (3) goods, wares, articles, and merchandise de- 16 scribed in section 4(a) that are imported into the 17 United States from third countries and are mined, 18 produced, or manufactured in part in the Xinjiang 19 Uyghur Autonomous Region or by persons working 20 with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region gov- 21 ernment or the Xinjiang Production and Construc- 22 tion Corps for purposes of the ‘‘poverty alleviation’’ 23 program or the ‘‘pairing-assistance’’ program. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jan 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1155.RDS H1155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 HR 1155 RDS (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The strategy re- 1 quired by subsection (a) shall include the following: 2 (1) A description of the actions taken by the 3 United States Government to address forced labor in 4 the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region under sec- 5 tion 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 6 1307), including a description of all Withhold Re- 7 lease Orders issued, goods detained, and fines 8 issued. 9 (2) A list of products made wholly or in part 10 by forced or involuntary labor in the Xinjiang 11 Uyghur Autonomous Region or made by Uyghurs, 12 Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or members of other 13 persecuted groups in any other part of the People’s 14 Republic of China, and a list of businesses that sold 15 products in the United States made wholly or in 16 part by forced or involuntary labor in the Xinjiang 17 Uyghur Autonomous Region or made by Uyghurs, 18 Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or members of other 19 persecuted groups in any other part of the People’s 20 Republic of China. 21 (3) A list of facilities and entities, including the 22 Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, that 23 source material from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autono- 24 mous Region or by persons working with the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jan 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1155.RDS H1155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 HR 1155 RDS Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region government or 1 the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for 2 purposes of the ‘‘poverty alleviation’’ program or the 3 ‘‘pairing-assistance’’ program, a plan for identifying 4 additional such facilities and entities, and facility- 5 and entity-specific enforcement plans, including 6 issuing specific Wi [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]