US approach to preventing imports of goods made using forced labour
In recent years, the US has taken a range of steps to strengthen US legislation and enforcement practice from a human rights, trade and foreign policy perspective in the fight against the widespread use of forced labour in the increasingly complex global supply chains of the 21st century. A prominent example is the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act of 2021. It bans imports from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in the north-west of China, except where importers can rebut the presumption that all goods from this region are made with forced labour. Enforcing the law can put businesses between a rock and a hard place, given the XUAR's central role in a host of global supply chains and Chinese retaliation and economic coercion.
At a Glance
About this document
Publication type
Author
Policy area
Keyword
- America
- Asia and Oceania
- China
- economic geography
- GEOGRAPHY
- import
- import restriction
- international affairs
- International Labour Organisation
- INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
- INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- international sanctions
- international trade
- LAW
- political geography
- production
- PRODUCTION, TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH
- rights and freedoms
- slavery
- supply chain
- surveillance concerning imports
- trade
- TRADE
- trade policy
- United Nations
- United States
- value chain