Calendar No. 17

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 189

A BILL

To prohibit the entry into the United States of

labor.People’s Republic of China with the use of forceditems produced, grown, or manufactured in the

MARCH 3, 1993

Read the second time and placed on the calendar
II

Calendar No. 17

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 189

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 26 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 1993

Mr. HELMS introduced the following bill; which was read the first time

MARCH 3, 1993

Read the second time and placed on the calendar

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
2

•S 189 PCS

1 of the People’s Republic of China shall enter or be im2 ported into the United States unless—

3 (1) the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in

4 this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) deter5 mines that such product, growth, or manufactured

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

7 forced labor,

8 (2) the determination described in paragraph

9 (1) is based on consultations described in subsection

10 (b), and

11 (3) the importer of any product, growth, or

12 manufactured article of the People’s Republic of

13 China submits a certification to the Secretary in

14 accordance with subsection (c).

15 (b) RIGHT OF INSPECTION AND CONSULTATION.—

16 The United States shall use all diplomatic efforts to per17 suade the People’s Republic of China to permit represent18 atives of international humanitarian and intergovern19 mental organizations, such as the International Labor Or20 ganization and the International Committee of the Red

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

22 facilities holding detainees and the Secretary shall consult

23 with representatives of such organizations in order to de24 termine that products of the People’s Republic of China
3

•S 189 PCS

1 which are for export are not being produced with the use

2 of forced labor.

3 (c) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall prescribe

4 the form, content, and manner of submission of the certifi5 cation (including documentation) required in connection

6 with the entry or importation into the United States of

7 any product, growth, or manufactured article of the Peo8 ple’s Republic of China. Such certification shall satisfy the

9 Secretary that the importer has taken steps to ensure that

10 such product was not produced, grown, or manufactured

11 with the use of forced labor.

12 (d) PENALTIES.—

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

14 (A) enter or import into the United States

15 any product or article if such importation is

16 prohibited under subsection (a), or

17 (B) make a false certification under sub18 section (c).

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

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

21 penalty of—

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

23 violation,

24 (B) not more than $100,000 for the sec25 ond violation, and
4

•S 189 PCS

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

2 than two violations.

3 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—Except as provided in

4 paragraph (2), the unlawful acts described in para5 graph (1) shall be treated as violations of the cus6 toms laws for purposes of applying the enforcement

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

8 1581 through 1641).

9 (e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

10 (1) FORCED LABOR.—The term ‘‘forced labor’’

11 means all work or service which is exacted from any

12 person under the menace of any penalty for its non13 performance and for which the worker does not offer

14 himself voluntarily.

15 (2) PRODUCT, GROWTH, OR MANUFACTURED

16 ARTICLE.—A product, growth, or manufactured arti17 cle shall be treated as being a product, growth, or

18 manufacture of forced labor if—

19 (A) the article was fabricated, assembled,

20 or processed, in whole or in part;

21 (B) contains any part that was fabricated,

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

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

24 pumped, or extracted,

25 with the use of forced labor.
5

•S 189 PCS

1 (3) ENTER, IMPORT, ETC.—The term ‘‘entry’’,

2 ‘‘enter or be imported’’, ‘‘import’’, or ‘‘importation’’

3 means entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for

4 consumption, in the customs territory of the United

5 States.