Conservative MP Michael Chong recently addressed a United States Congressional committee on Sept 12, where he advocated for Canada to align with U.S. Customs in restricting the entry of products from China that are manufactured under slave labour conditions. According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Mr. Chong emphasized that Canada should not serve as the final destination for products produced using slave labour. He stated that as part of a North American free trade zone, Canada should work closely with the United States to implement bans on such products.
During his testimony before the Congressional Executive Commission on China, Mr. Chong highlighted the actions taken by U.S. Customs to halt shipments of products made with forced labour, including apparel, shoes, and solar panels. In contrast, Canada has yet to seize any such shipments, with the exception of one shipment that was later released. The Canada Border Services Agency briefly stopped a shipping container containing China-manufactured clothes in Quebec in 2021. This incident sheds light on the large number of shipping containers processed by Canadian ports each year, estimated to be around 1.8 million.
The issue of merchandise made with slave labour being labeled as environmentally friendly was also raised during the committee hearing. Former U.S. secretary of the interior, Republican congressman Ryan Zinke, expressed concern about the supply chain behind green technologies such as electric vehicles, which he identified as being heavily dependent on China. Mr. Chong shares these concerns and sponsored a Commons resolution condemning China for forced labour atrocities in 2021. MPs involved in the debate on the motion learned that Chinese slave labour is used in significant proportions of cotton production, canned tomato products, and polysilicon production, a vital material for manufacturing solar panels.
In July 2020, the Canadian government revised the Canada Customs Tariff to prohibit the entry of products made using forced labour. Multiple investigations, including those conducted by U.N. human rights experts, have uncovered compelling evidence of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region being subjected to state-mandated forced labour in factories during their detention in re-education facilities. These investigations have implicated numerous global brands, either directly or through their supply chains, in these unethical practices.
According to Surya Deva, vice chairperson of the Working Group on Business and Human Rights, businesses must not turn a blind eye to these allegations and should conduct meaningful human rights due diligence. The U.S. Congressional Executive Commission stated in 2020 that global commerce is tainted with goods made using forced labour in China, and companies like Adidas, Calvin Klein, Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola, Costco, Kraft Heinz, Nike, and Tommy Hilfiger have been implicated in directly employing or sourcing from suppliers suspected of using forced labour.