A raft of new bills targeting trade and investment with China was introduced in Congress last week.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (H.R. 1155, introduced Feb. 18 by Rep. McGovern, D-Mass.) would prohibit all imports from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China unless U.S. Customs and Border Protection can certify that the goods are not produced with forced labor (in whole or in part) and submits to Congress a report outlining such a determination. This bill, an updated version of H.R. 6210, which passed the House in September 2020 by a vote of 406-3, would also (1) authorize the president to apply targeted sanctions on anyone responsible for the labor trafficking of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities, (2) require financial disclosures from U.S. publicly-traded businesses about their engagement with Chinese companies and other entities engaged in mass surveillance, mass internment, forced labor, and other serious human rights abuses in the XUAR, and (3) require a strategy report from the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force and regular updates on the steps taken to enforce the prohibition on imports of forced labor-made goods from the XUAR.
H.R. 1092 (introduced Feb. 18 by Rep. Banks, R-Ind.) would empower the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to prevent predatory investments of U.S. companies by the Chinese government.
H.R. 1093 (introduced Feb. 18 by Rep. Banks, R-Ind.) would require a Treasury Department-led effort to produce a list of People’s Liberation Army-linked companies in which U.S. individuals, entities, companies, banks, and financial institutions cannot invest.
The Bring American Companies Home Act (H.R. 1128, introduced Feb. 18 by Rep. Green, R-Tenn.) would “incentivize American companies to move back from China by covering 100% of their moving costs and paying for it with” the Section 301 tariffs on imports from China.
The China Technology Transfer Control Act (H.R. 1131, introduced Feb. 18 by Rep. Green, R-Ind.) would require licenses for exports to China of all 15 core technologies from China’s “Made in China 2025” strategy (e.g., artificial intelligence, semiconductors, lithium battery manufacturing) and impose sanctions on foreign entities and individuals that violate these exports controls through the transfer of these core technologies to China.
The Opposing Business with Chinese Military Companies Act (H.R. 1137, introduced Feb. 18 by Rep. Jackson, R-Texas) would require the president to impose sanctions on Chinese Communist military companies operating in the U.S.
For more information on pursuing trade policy interests through the legislative process, please contact Nicole Bivens Collinson.
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