Apple, like Coca-Cola and Nike, lobbies China’s forced labor bill in Congress

Apple, Nike and Coca-Cola are among companies lobbying Congress to amend a bill banning products made with forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region, home to the Uyghur ethnic minority reportedly being persecuted. by the Chinese government. A Capitol Hill staff member said the legislation has bipartisan support and could be passed before the end of the year.

The bill passed the US House of Representatives in September by a 406-3 margin, and is now in the Senate. If passed, it would, among other things, impose restrictions on imports of forced labor items into Xinjiang. This region is home to around 12 million Uyghur Muslims, a group that China is monitoring and imprisoning at an alarming rate. Beijing has repeatedly denied these allegations.

Yet governments around the world have started to criticize China for what the United Nations calls human rights violations, including with the forced labor bill that was passed by Congress.

Although the law enjoys the backing of Republicans and Democrats, large American companies that rely on Chinese companies and workers to assemble and distribute their products find themselves wedged between national and Chinese lawmakers.

Many of the world’s largest companies, including Apple, rely on supply chains that meander through china to manufacture their wares. Chinese consumers are also a large and growing part of their base. In Apple’s case, the company said in October that Chinese customers have spent nearly $ 8 billion on its products, making the country its third-largest market behind the Americas and Europe.

This reliance on manufacturing and consumers in China helps explain why the New York Times reported last month that large companies, including soft drink maker Coca-Cola and clothing giant Nike, were pushing for changes to weaken the law. Apple also opposed parts of the proposed bill, according to the report.

Lobbyists have fought to water down some of its provisions, arguing that while they strongly condemn forced labor and the ongoing atrocities in Xinjiang, the law’s ambitious demands could wreak havoc on deep-rooted supply chains in China. China, “the Times wrote.

Apple said it supports the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and reiterated previous statements that “we abhor forced labor” and that the company supports lawmakers’ efforts to eradicate “forced labor and strengthen legislation. America and we will continue to work with them to make it happen. “

Nike said in a statement that it had not lobbied against the bill. She and Coca-Cola said forced labor goes against their codes of conduct and that each audits their supply chains to ensure bad behavior is eliminated.

“Nike takes any report on forced labor very seriously and we have engaged with multi-stakeholder working groups to assess collective solutions that will help preserve the integrity of our global supply chains,” the company said.

“We are closely monitoring the implementation of our Supplier Guidelines by engaging independent third parties to perform audits,” Coca-Cola said.

Supplier’s liability

For over a decade, Apple has released annual supplier accountability reports which includes data on the number of suppliers found that have caused employees to work unreasonably long hours, the number of safety incidents detected and the success of the fight against child labor. This year he describes protective equipment he expects his supply chain workforce to have in the midst of the pandemic, including masks and hand sanitizer.

In recent years, Apple has reported on more aspects of its supply chain, including audits of mines, smelters, and refineries, in addition to parts makers and device assemblers.

“We ask suppliers to provide fair working hours, a safe workplace and an environment free of discrimination,” the company said on its website for the reports. “These protections apply to the entire supply chain, regardless of a person’s position or location.”

Regarding forced labor legislation, reports from The Times and The Washington Post indicated that Apple had rejected certain elements of the forced labor bill. The Times report said that in a document, Apple called for longer compliance times and the ability to release information to congressional committees rather than the general public.

Apple would only reiterate its support for the bill.