Sen. Josh Hawley offered legislation aimed at holding responsible companies that rely on slave labor in their supply chains.
The Slave-Free Business Certification Act, introduced by the Missouri Republican on Monday, would require routine independent audits of companies to ensure they are not complicit in forced labor and trafficking in their supply chains.
The Missouri Republican put forth the bill weeks after Congress and the Trump administration pushed for sanctions against Chinese officials related to the country’s reported human rights abuse of the Uighur Muslim minority.
President Trump signed bipartisan legislation in May that imposed sanctions on officials in charge of the labor camps the Uighur Muslims in China work in.
Hawley’s bill would mandate companies report to the Department of Labor that their supply chains do not depend on slave labor. It also would establish penalties for firms that neglect basic minimum standards for human rights.
Hawley’s office referenced over 80 global companies that have reportedly been tied to forced Uighur labor in China, from sportswear companies such as Nike, Adidas, and Puma to tech giants such as Lenovo and Samsung. These issues extend beyond China.
[Related: House GOP demands ‘immediate’ hearing on Uighur ‘genocide’]
Under the legislation, CEOs would have to certify that their supply chains are free from slave labor or that they have reported all instances of forced labor in their companies.
“Corporate America and the celebrities that hawk their products have been playing this game for a long time — talk up corporate social responsibility and social justice at home while making millions of dollars off the slave labor that assembles their products. Executives build woke, progressive brands for American consumers, but happily outsource labor to Chinese concentration camps, all just to save a few bucks,” Hawley said in a statement.
