A Threat to U.S. Consumers, Communities, and Manufacturers

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas testified at a congressional hearing on “Exploitation and Enforcement: Evaluating the Department of Homeland Security’s Efforts to Counter Uyghur Forced Labor.” She warned that the massive surge of imports arriving daily containing apparel made with slave labor, dangerous narcotics, and counterfeits will continue to imperil consumers, ravage communities, and devastate the vital U.S. manufacturing base unless Congress and the administration take immediate and aggressive action to step up enforcement against China’s predatory trade practices.

Glas highlighted the following key points in her testimony:

Chinese cotton products made with forced labor in Xinjiang are flooding the global marketplace, making their way both directly and indirectly to the U.S.

As a result, American textile plants have been forced to idle equipment and lay off workers, while some companies have been put out of business entirely.

The de minimis loophole in U.S. trade law has become a superhighway for illicit goods, including forced labor textiles and apparel.

Congress should take the following steps to counter these practices:

Get aggressive on oversight of customs enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and require Customs officials to testify regularly.

Close the de minimis loophole for e-commerce with a legislative fix.

Urge the administration to utilize and expand the UFLPA Entity List more robustly as a deterrent.

Aggressively step up enforcement, inspections, and penalties.

Glas concluded by calling on Congress and the Executive Branch to act decisively now to stop China’s forced labor regime and support American companies and workers who are being exploited as a result.