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EU to propose ban on forced labour goods amid pushback over China’s alleged Xinjiang abuses
- European Commission hopes its risk-based proposal can rid the market of tainted goods without flouting global trade rules
- Model differs from Washington’s approach of banning Xinjiang imports outright on suspicions of forced labour
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Finbarr Berminghamin Brussels
In a move that could cause new fissures in already fraught trade ties with China, the European Commission is set to propose banning products involving forced labour from being sold in the single market.
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But Brussels’ pitch next week will adopt a dramatically different approach to the United States in the blocking of such goods, due to concerns about breaching World Trade Organization rules and over appearing to directly target Beijing.
The European Union ban would not be location specific, and would apply to goods made both inside and outside the bloc, according to officials involved in the planning.
Washington, by contrast, has banned all goods from the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, unless importers can prove the products did not involve forced labour. Businesses say that standard is almost impossible to meet.
Technocrats in Brussels point to forced labour within the EU – and everywhere else in the world – to emphasise that there is no single target.
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Nonetheless, the EU’s measures will seek to address the issue of goods and supplies from Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of instituting a network of coercive labour.
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