House Select Committee on China Raises Worry Some EU Members Won’t Pass Slave Labor Ban

The two top lawmakers on the House Select Committee on China on April 16 asked the State Department to “intensify and elevate its global diplomatic efforts” to ensure the EU passes an agreement to ban imports of goods made with forced labor.

Although the European Parliament has reached a provisional deal on the matter, the two said the committee learned during a recent trip to Europe that certain countries may vote against it.

The letter signed by committee chairman, Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., said they are concerned about the deal’s failure because Europe and the U.K. have been “dumping grounds” for imports banned from the United States.

It asked the State Department to prioritize engagement with Germany and Italy. It also said that State should increase its efforts with the U.K., “which has also failed to implement stringent prohibitions against the import of goods made with forced labor from Xinjiang.”

“While we welcome some U.S. allies and partners announcing their own import bans on forced labor products from [China], we remain concerned that these measures fall short of the [Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act's] standards and are leading companies to build two separate supply chains -- one ‘clean’ supply chain for the United States and another supply chain tainted by forced labor for the rest of the world,” it said.

If this agreement is passed, it will be a “significant step” in the global fight against Uyghur forced labor, it said.