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Statement by Congressman Dan Kildee on China Forced Labor Bill Becoming Law

December 23, 2021

FLINT—Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05), Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus, issued the following statement after President Joe Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act into law:

"Michigan workers can compete with anyone if they are given a level playing field. Unfortunately, the Chinese communist government uses unfair trade practices and brutally oppresses minorities, including using the Uyghur people as slave labor. These human rights abuses are completely unacceptable and give Chinese products an unfair competitive advantage. I applaud President Biden on signing this bipartisan legislation into law. It will ensure that products from China are not made with forced labor, upholding our democratic values and leveling the playing field for Michigan workers. When it comes to trade, we cannot allow nations with gross human rights violations like China to profit from forced labor at the expense of the American worker."

Congressman Kildee supported the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act when it passed the U.S. House of Representatives on December 8, 2021. This legislation would:

  • Create a change to existing import rules to assume goods made in Xinjiang are made with forced labor, thereby blocking their importation to the U.S. unless their manufacturer can provide "clear and convincing" evidence of the contrary;
  • Authorize President Biden to apply targeted visa and asset sanctions on any person responsible for the labor trafficking of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities;
  • Direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to address forced labor in Xinjiang;
  • Require publicly traded companies to disclose the following in their quarterly and annual reports: any engagement with entities building or running detention facilities and developing or providing surveillance systems in Xinjiang, engagement with any persons subject to U.S. sanctions, or responsible for, or complicit in, committing atrocities in Xinjiang.