3 steps for the Trump administration to target Uyghur forced labor

Kalbinur Gheni hasn’t seen her sister in person for more than six years. Her sister Renagul disappeared into the Chinese Communist Party’s vast political reeducation camps, which imprison an estimated 1.8 million Uyghur Muslims.

Renagul committed no crimes, but her identity as a Uyghur later landed her in Changji Women’s Prison, where she is currently forced to make dresses to sell on the global market. Renagul is but one of the 3 million Uyghur men and women China's Communist Party exploits through state-sponsored forced labor.

As the Trump administration retakes the helm, prioritizing the U.S. response to the Chinese Communist Party’s atrocities against Uyghurs should be a part of any strategy to counter it. Fortunately, the new presidential administration will implement policies and actions based on its prior track record.

In the last days of the first term of the Trump administration, the State Department issued an atrocity determination declaring that the Chinese Communist Party is committing ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity against the Uyghurs. This determination was extremely important, as China has the largest state-sponsored forced labor program in the world.

Following the atrocity determination, in December 2021, the U.S. adopted the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. This law created a “rebuttable presumption” stating that the U.S. government would bar all goods produced “wholly or in part” with Uyghur forced labor from entering U.S. markets. Enforcement provisions went into effect in June 2022.

It will be crucial for the new presidential administration to strengthen U.S. efforts in implementing this law and countering Uyghur forced labor.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) authored this bill, and so President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of him as secretary of State lends credence to the notion that tackling China’s severe human rights violations will be a priority for his administration.

Efforts to implement the law have been generally inconsistent so far. The new administration has the opportunity to right the ship, starting with three critical next steps that increase consequences for repeat violators, punish perpetrators of forced labor and provide support to survivors.

First Trump should fine importers who are repeat violators. U.S. Customs and Border Protection possesses the authority to fine importers for fraud, gross negligence and negligence. There is also precedent for issuing civil penalties to companies that utilize forced labor. Fining repeat offenders has the potential to increase the risk to would-be violators to discourage future violations of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. It goes beyond the rebuttable presumption, which bans forced labor-produced goods from entering U.S. markets and creates additional financial consequences for failure to comply.

Second, he should create and implement secondary sanctions against perpetrators of Uyghur forced labor. Most goods imported to the U.S. that are found to be tainted by Uyghur forced labor come via Vietnam, Malaysia or Thailand. Thus, subsidiaries of Chinese companies in those countries are actively aiding and abetting the continuation of Uyghur forced labor. The U.S. should target those entities with robust secondary sanctions designed to improve the enforcement of preexisting sanctions against entities such as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and others perpetuating Uyghur forced labor.

Third, Trump should create a fund for Uyghur survivors of ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity. The U.S. government should place fines collected from repeat violators of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and any proceeds collected from sanctions over Uyghur human rights violations, into a fund payable to Uyghur survivors of ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity. Funds could support the important work of organizations providing direct support to Uyghur survivors of forced labor and other injustices, including various forms of technical assistance, counseling and rehabilitation services, advocacy funding and support, among other potentially worthy causes.

Along with these, it is of utmost importance that the U.S. work with its allies to counter Uyghur forced labor and implement measures similar to the UFLPA, to ensure that companies do not profit from Uyghur exploitation.

The next administration has a unique opportunity to build upon what it accomplished during President Trump’s first term. Targeting Uyghur forced labor is critical to promote and protect those inherent, inalienable rights that all human beings possess, including Uyghurs.

Olivia Enos is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute. Alexis Mrachek is senior program manager of the Human Rights & Freedom Program at the McCain Institute at Arizona State University.

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