US Forced Labor Prevention Act

• US House of Representatives have passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
• It lays down policy to ban import of goods produced in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
• The bill needs to be cleared by the US Senate and then President Joe Biden before it can become a law

The US House of Representatives have cleared the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in order to prevent goods manufactured or produced in China's Xinjiang from entering the US unless determined otherwise by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP). It now needs to be cleared by the Senate and then President Joe Biden to become a law.

According to the house, the bill proposes to impose various restrictions related to China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, including prohibiting certain imports from Xinjiang and imposing sanctions on those responsible for human rights violations there.

To be specific, Section 4 (a) of the bill defines products from Xinjiang eligible for sanctions in the US includes all goods, wares, articles, and merchandize mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China or by persons working with the local government for poverty alleviation or pairing assistance program will be barred from entering the US.

The US has for long been accusing China of indulging in human rights violations and forced labor of minority groups as Uyghur, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Muslim groups in Xinjiang, an industrial hub in the Asian nation. For the global solar industry, Xinjiang is a major supplier of polysilicon used to manufacture solar cells and the news of government planning to ban solar products caused much alarm among industry stakeholders (see US Government Ban On Xinjiang Produced Solar Products).

Already LONGi Solar and JinkoSolar are among major module suppliers that have had some of their consignments detained by the CBP at the US ports in recent times (see Sign Of Times To Come? US Govt. Detaining PV Modules).

The bill also states that the US government will encourage the international community to reduce the import of goods made with forced labor from China, particularly those in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Citing concerns over China's forced labor practices, the US has decided to boycott Beijing Winter Olympics due to be held in February 2022, by not sending its government representatives to the event. This announcement has been followed by UK, Australia, Canada.

In retaliation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told the local media, "The US and Australia will pay a price for their erroneous actions. You may wait and see."