A US Customs and Border Protection patch on February 27, 2018, in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Beijing holds millions of Uyghurs in labor and reeducation camps and seeks to reduce the Uyghur population through forced sterilization.

The 2021 Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) was a notable development, but the United States needs to do more to enforce the act and end Uyghur forced labor. Olivia Enos gives 13 recommendations to maximize the act’s effect and prevent further atrocities.

Key Insights

1. Prohibit imports produced with Uyghur forced labor from being reexported.

When US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detains a good, importers have a range of options for what they can do with it, including reexportation, even if CBP believes the good was produced with forced labor. Those importers should not have the option to reexport such a shipment until it is established through a clear and convincing evidentiary standard that it was not produced with forced labor. Importers should not be permitted to profit from goods potentially produced with forced labor in the US or other markets, and this restriction on reexportation would more effectively ensure that does not happen. If CBP investigates a good and deems that it was not produced with forced labor, it should then be released, and reexport would then be an option for importers.

2. Create and enforce secondary sanctions against individuals and entities complicit in Uyghur forced labor.

Most goods imported to the US that are found to be tainted by Uyghur forced labor come from Vietnam, Malaysia, or Thailand. So subsidiaries of Chinese companies in those countries are actively aiding and abetting the continuation of Uyghur forced labor. The US should target those entities with robust secondary sanctions designed to improve the enforcement of preexisting sanctions against entities like the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) and others responsible for the perpetuation of Uyghur forced labor. Legislation in both the House and the Senate currently proposes the use of secondary sanctions to counter China’s use of Uyghur forced labor. Congress should consider such legislation that would strengthen primary sanctions and build out a thorough secondary sanctions regime.

3. Work with partner nations—especially allies, including the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, Korea, Australia, and others—to institute legislation similar to the UFLPA.

Without similar legislation implemented and enforced around the world, Uyghur forced labor will not stop. Instead, businesses will reexport goods to other markets after the US rejects them, or purposefully divert goods produced with Uyghur forced labor away from US markets. While steps taken so far by other capitals are welcome, actual bans on products produced with Uyghur forced labor are necessary to have the full deterrent effect. Countries should observe the lessons learned in the US context to put forward legislation that effectively counters Uyghur exploitation.

Quotes may be edited for clarity and length. 

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