US Lawmakers ask Canada and Mexico to do More on Slave Labour

WASHINGTON SEPT.24

A warning shot across the bow is a letter sent to all ministers responsible for trade in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. U.S. lawmakers, led by the current and past co-chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, are attempting to hold Mexico and Canada accountable for their lack of enforcement regarding provisions that require all countries to stop forced, slave, and child labour products from entering our supply chains.

Current Chair Congressman Chris Smith (New Jersey) and Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley (Oregon) strike a cordial tone of cooperation, but underlying this is a clear warning: America will not tolerate being undermined by its allies, who, to date, have not intercepted a single shipment of products from Xinjiang—where solar panels, cotton, tomatoes, and electronic components are produced using forced and child labour.