I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 864

To prohibit the entry into the United States of items produced, grown,

or manufactured in the People’s Republic of China with the use of

forced labor.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 4, 1993

Mr. SOLOMON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To prohibit the entry into the United States of items produced, grown, or manufactured in the People’s Republic

of China with the use of forced labor.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. PROHIBITION OF ARTICLES USING FORCED

4 LABOR.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi6 sion of law, no product, growth, or manufactured article

7 of the People’s Republic of China shall enter or be im8 ported into the United States unless—
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1 (1) the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in

2 this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) deter3 mines that such product, growth, or manufactured

4 article is not the product, growth, or manufacture of

5 forced labor; and

6 (2) such determination is based on consulta7 tions described in subsection (b) and a certification

8 submitted to the Secretary in accordance with sub9 section (c).

10 (b) RIGHT OF INSPECTION AND CONSULTATION.—

11 The United States shall use all diplomatic efforts to per12 suade the People’s Republic of China to permit represent13 atives of international humanitarian and intergovern14 mental organizations, such as the International Labor Or15 ganization and the International Committee of the Red

16 Cross, to periodically inspect all camps, prisons, and other

17 facilities holding detainees and the Secretary shall consult

18 with representatives of such organizations to assure that

19 products of the People’s Republic of China which are for

20 export are not being produced with the use of forced labor.

21 (c) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall prescribe

22 the form and content of the certification (including docu23 mentation) for submission in connection with any product,

24 growth, or manufactured article of the People’s Republic

25 of China that satisfies the Secretary that the importer has
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1 taken steps to ensure that such product was not produced,

2 grown, or manufactured with the use of forced labor.

3 (d) PENALTIES.—

4 (1) UNLAWFUL ACTS.—It is unlawful to—

5 (A) bring or import into the United States

6 any product or article if such importation is

7 prohibited under subsection (a), or

8 (B) make a false certification under sub9 section (c).

10 (2) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Any person or entity

11 who violates paragraph (1) shall be subject to a civil

12 penalty of—

13 (A) not more than $10,000 for the first

14 violation,

15 (B) not more than $100,000 for the sec16 ond violation, and

17 (C) not more than $1,000,000 for more

18 than two violations.

19 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—Except as provided in

20 paragraph (2), the unlawful acts described in para21 graph (1) shall be treated as violations of the cus22 toms laws for purposes of applying the enforcement

23 provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.

24 1581 through 1641).

25 (e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
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1 (1) FORCED LABOR.—The term ‘‘forced labor’’

2 means all work or service which is exacted from any

3 person under the menace of any penalty for its non4 performance and for which the worker does not offer

5 himself voluntarily.

6 (2) PRODUCT, GROWTH, OR MANUFACTURED

7 ARTICLE.—A product, growth, or manufactured arti8 cle shall be treated as being a product, growth, or

9 manufacture of forced labor if—

10 (A) the article was fabricated, assembled,

11 or processed, in whole or in part;

12 (B) contains any part that was fabricated,

13 assembled, or processed in whole or in part; or

14 (C) was grown, harvested, mined, quarried,

15 pumped, or extracted,

16 with the use of forced labor.

17 (3) ENTER OR BE IMPORTED.—The term

18 ‘‘enter or be imported’’ means entered, or withdrawn

19 from warehouse for consumption, in the customs ter20 ritory of the United States.

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