Members of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China would like our neighbors to the north and south to do more—for example, something—to prevent products made with slave labor from becoming part of the continent’s supply chains (“U.S. lawmakers send clear message about forced labour,” The Sunday Guardian [India], October 6, 2024).
The Commission’s letter to trade ministers initially speaks of intending “to lend support to efforts to continue robust implementation” of the relevant trade-agreement provisions. But if Canadian and Mexican implementation of trade sanctions has not been robust, the exigencies of diplomacy do not warrant a pretense that it has been.
On September 24, US lawmakers sent a diplomatic “warning shot” in the form of a letter to ministers responsible for trade in Canada, Mexico, and the US….
“We write to lend support to efforts to continue robust implementation of Article 23.6 of the United-States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement, which prohibits ‘…the importation of goods…produced in whole or in part by forced or compulsory labor’ between our three nations.”
The letter, addressed to Canada’s Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade, and Economic Development, Mary Ng, raises critical questions about the future of North American trade relations—particularly regarding forced labour concerns linked to Xinjiang. It calls for greater cooperation under Article 23.6 of the USMCA to combat the importation of goods produced through forced labour….
Over a year ago, [Canadian] MP John McKay met with Senator Merkley in Washington to express concerns his concern about his country’s inaction regarding forced labour products emanating from China’s Xinjiang region or East Turkestan. Media reports followed, signalling that the US might push its partners harder….
Canada and the world need to get behind the spirit and strength of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and stand for human and labour rights around the globe.
The congressmen want Mexico and Canada to “take additional steps to build on the progress made to effectively stop the import of goods produced with forced labor into North America.” The way things are now, a product made in whole or in part by forced labor which is therefore denied entry into the United States may be imported instead into Canada or Mexico.
The letter gives the example of solar panels that were blocked from entering the United States only to then be imported into Canada, after which another attempt was made to send them into the United States.
