Congress passes ban on imports made with Uyghur forced labor

The Senate on Thursday gave final approval to a bipartisan bill to crack down on imports from China‘s Xinjiang region, where Beijing is accused of using forced labor.

The bill now goes to President Biden, who is expected to sign it.

“Many companies have already taken steps to clean up their supply chains. And, frankly, they should have no concerns about this law,” Sen. Marco Rubio, the bill’s sponsor, said on the Senate floor.

“For those who have not done that, they’ll no longer be able to continue to make Americans — every one of us, frankly — unwitting accomplices in the atrocities, in the genocide that’s being committed by the Chinese Communist Party,” said the Florida Republican.

The vote capped a series of obstacles for the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which authorizes sanctions against companies that facilitate the forced labor of Muslim minority groups, including Uyghurs, in Xinjiang. It also prohibits imports from the region unless Customs and Border Protection determines that no forced labor was used in production.

The ban threatens to shake up trade for products such as apparel and electronics.

It could pose a challenge to U.S.-based solar panel manufacturers. Close to half of the world’s supply of polysilicon, a key input to solar cells, is manufactured in Xinjiang, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.