Requires securities issuers to disclose activities in Xinjiang, China
Washington. The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today praised House passage of the Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act of 2020 (H.R. 6270). The legislation, led by Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) along with Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), and Andre Carson (D-IN), would require issuers of securities to publicly disclose activities related to China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Significantly, the Act differs from a recent House bill (H.R. 6210) that would designate goods produced in the Xinjiang region of China as being manufactured with forced labor.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act would mandate that publicly trade companies disclose information on the goods and materials they buy from the Xinjiang region. It would also require disclosure as to whether they buy or otherwise source goods or materials originated in forced labor camps.
“We have laws against companies buying forced labor products but they still do it without fear of penalty,” said Michael Stumo, CEO of the CPA. “This legislation will require multinationals to affirmatively determine and publicly report their actions when they try to profit from humanitarian abuses.”
Said CPA Chair Dan DiMicco, “This is an important step toward transparency and accountability, so that investors and companies don’t unwittingly fund companies that present a pretty face publicly while privately enabling abuse.”
CPA has frequently expressed serious concern about Beijing’s persecution of non-Han Chinese including ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The bill would require companies like Kraft-Heinz to report whether they procure tomatoes from Xinjiang to make ketchup.
Last week, CPA praised the passage of a related House bill which would prevent the importation of forced labor goods from Xinjiang.
A recent study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) found that more than 1 million Uyghurs and other minority groups in China have been forced into a vast network of “indoctrination” camps since 2017. Many are then transferred to factories in nine separate Chinese provinces. ASPI notes that at least 83 well-known global brands have used forced Uyghur labor, including Apple, BMW, Gap, Huawei, Nike, Samsung, Sony, and Volkswagen.
CPA has long advocated an economic decoupling from China. Read more.
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