US lawmakers unveiled new legislation on Wednesday that would effectively block imports of any goods from China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, amid concerns they were made by Uygurs there who had been subject to forced labour. The act, which adds to the growing pile of bills in the current Congress taking Beijing to task on its human rights record, would require companies that work with Xinjiang-based suppliers to provide convincing evidence that their goods were not produced by involuntary workers. “It is long past time for companies to reassess their operations and supply chains, and find alternatives that do not exploit labour and violate human rights,” Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts, said at a panel event on Capitol Hill alongside other cosponsors of the bill, which has yet to be formally introduced. The act would make it US policy that “all goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part” in Xinjiang are deemed to have been produced with some form of forced labour. Currently, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency can bar the import of goods – or blacklist the supplier of those goods – if there is evidence forced labour was involved in their production. The new bill, if enacted, would effectively reverse that calculus where Xinjiang products are concerned – blocking all such products unless CBP has “convincing evidence” that no forced labour was involved. The bill comes as reports grow from both the international media and research institutions contending that forced labour is widely used in Xinjiang. The region’s authorities are three years into sweeping measures to hold and “re-educate” as many as a million Uygurs and other largely Muslim ethnic minority groups in mass internment camps that the government calls “vocational training centres”. “Without knowing it, Americans all across our country have a connection to these human rights abuses through the products we buy,” said Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon. “No matter how much [importing companies] try to make sure that forced labour is not part of the supply chain, the access to information and the lack of transparency makes it impossible to be sure.” When contacted for comment on Wednesday, China’s embassy in Washington referred to previous denials by the government that forced labour exists in Xinjiang. A recent report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute estimating that upwards of 80,000 Uygurs and other ethnic minorities had been transferred from Xinjiang – some directly from detention facilities – to factories around the country had “no basis in fact”, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said following its release. Though rejecting charges of forced labour, the ministry said in December that “trainees” who had “graduated” could opt to be assigned employment by authorities. Amid the growing reports of forced labour in Xinjiang, a major labour welfare association announced earlier this week that it could no longer vouch for companies doing business with suppliers in the region, and directed its members to review their sourcing operations. Announcing the move, the Fair Labour Association (FLA), whose affiliates include sportswear giants Adidas, Nike and Patagonia, said on Monday that it would work with affiliates, governments and other stakeholders “to identify shared solutions to end these human rights violations”. The legislation unveiled on Wednesday would provide a four-month grace period for companies to readjust their supply chains. Big name brands using Uygur ‘forced labour’: Australia think tank In addition to import restrictions, the bill directs the Trump administration to issue travel or financial sanctions against individuals deemed to “knowingly engage” in forced labour in Xinjiang. The executive branch could choose to waive such action in “limited circumstances to advance US treaty obligations or national interests”. Staffers on Capitol Hill began working on the legislation in July, amid renewed efforts in Congress to push the administration to act on a number of China-related human rights issues, including Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet. Representative Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey whose bill supporting Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement was signed into law in November, called the new legislation “historic” and said he expected it to pass. Backers of the bill are anticipating opposition from industry lobbyists, whose sectors have already been hammered by tariffs imposed during the US-China trade war. Touting the bipartisan support for the bill, McGovern said on Wednesday that he hoped “the US business community is listening carefully. We are together on this.” Uygurs abroad face mental health crisis over relatives’ plight in Xinjiang On Tuesday, five of the largest US retail associations said in a statement that their members had expressed “strong concerns to their suppliers” but did not indicate whether they intended to cut off supply chains with producers in the region. A ban of imports on a regional basis would not be without precedent. Last year, the Trump administration said it was halting the import of rough diamonds from anywhere in Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond fields, citing concerns over forced labour. Customs and Border Protection has also blacklisted goods from individual suppliers on the same grounds, including Hetian Taida Apparel Co, a clothing manufacturer based in Xinjiang. The bill would also require companies publicly traded on US stock markets to disclose any connections with entities that engage in forced labour in Xinjiang, provide mass surveillance technology to the region or have been subject to US sanctions over the mass internment programmes. Representative Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat whose northern Virginia district is home to one of the largest concentrations of Uygurs in the US, said she believed that “once US companies, shareholders and consumers are aware of the horrors that are going on in Xinjiang and beyond … they won’t want to be participants in that system”. Purchase the China AI Report 2020 brought to you by SCMP Research and enjoy a 20% discount (original price US$400). This 60-page all new intelligence report gives you first-hand insights and analysis into the latest industry developments and intelligence about China AI. Get exclusive access to our webinars for continuous learning, and interact with China AI executives in live Q&A. 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