Enhanced monitoring and enforcement by these agencies should include an annual report to the Congress on China's record in meeting those obligations. China's potential accession to the WTO makes it all the more important that we begin to incorporate labor market issues into trade policy making. As China becomes increasingly integrated into the world trading system, its lack of a free labor market will have a growing impact on its competition with producers and workers in other countries. That impact should be taken into account as the rules governing world trade evolve. The United States can also act immediately in several areas to implement labor market issues in trade policy.
Current law recognizes that link.
For example, section 307 of the Tariff Act prohibits the importation of goods made from forced or prison labor. The United States should strengthen enforcement of that provision by establishing a special task force to investigate alleged violations. This would press China to eliminate the egregious practice of using forced and prison labor to produce goods for export. Fifth, just as we press China to be more open with the WTO, the U.S. must map out how it will pursue institutional reforms of the WTO to make its operation more consistent with the principles of openness and rule of law. Adopting these practices in the WTO itself should have a positive influence on the domestic practices of WTO Members, including China.