Our Labor Dept. has identified 204 goods from 82 countries made with forced labor and child labor in 2024. As America is the world’s largest importer, many investors and consumers are concerned about the human rights impact of these products in the U.S. market. Courts have ruled that consumers cannot sue in U.S. courts to enforce a provision in the 1930 Smoot Hawley Tariff Act which prohibits the importation of goods made with forced labor or convict labor. Advocates say the loopholes in this law have also limited its effectiveness and resulted in fewer than 40 enforcement actions over the past 80 years. Federal agencies are further impeded by the lack information about goods produced along supply chains tainted by these crimes and imported here. However, Federal law does provide for the termination of Federal contracts where a federal contractor or subcontractor uses forced labor in the performance of the grant, contract or cooperative agreement. And the Trafficking Victims Protection Act has criminal jurisdiction abroad over Federal employees, contractors or subcontractors who participate in severe forms of trafficking in persons or who use forced labor.

Proposed Legislation: Reintroduction of H.R.6279 - Business Supply Chain Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act of 2020
Prospective Sponsor: Rep. Christopher Smith (NJ)