Bipartisan leaders of a congressional committee said that the Biden administration needs to do more to crack down on the import of goods linked to forced labor in China.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party wrote in a letter that the Biden administration should work harder to enforce the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The letter was sent to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland January 19.
“We are writing to urge you to take immediate action to strengthen enforcement,” wrote committee chair Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL).
The letter suggested the administration close a trade loophole utilized by e-commerce companies like Temu and Shein that allows packages valued at $800 or less to be shipped directly to U.S. consumers with little scrutiny from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. Over 1 billion packages entered the U.S. via this trade route in the last fiscal year with Shein and Temu accounting for about a third of those shipments according to a Congressional report. Lawmakers have suggested the administration consider changing this rule so that apparel and other items cannot enter the U.S. via this route.
Policymakers urged the administration to ramp up the criminal prosecutions of those who profit from Uyghur forced labor while expanding the use of a U.S. Justice Department task force that tries to combat trade fraud.
The committee has also advised that the list of proscribed companies, known as the “entity list,” be expanded to include more organizations.
While the UFLPA mainly focuses on solar panel parts, tomatoes, and cotton, lawmakers have suggested more scrutiny of China’s gold, seafood and critical minerals sectors.
