Jun 05, 2024 - 15:19
By cbc.ca

Canada's failure to block forced-labour imports draws U.S. scrutiny

Canada made a promise to block imports of products made by forced labour, to keep those goods from entering this continent as part of the new North American trade agreement.

Now a U.S. senator heavily involved in the issue offers a blunt answer when asked by CBC News whether Canada is keeping that promise.

«No, not yet,» Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat who co-wrote his own country's legislation on the topic, said, followed by a dead silence.

The bill he introduced is about to mark its two-year anniversary.

That U.S. law created a list of products allegedly made in forced re-education camps in China's Xinjiang region — primarily clothing, food and electronics.

The bill means those products must be stopped at the U.S. border. Then, because Merkley's bill creates a reverse-burden of proof, if the importer can't provide evidence that paid workers made those goods, they're turned away.

This has unleashed a surge in enforcement.

A new public website tracking this data says the U.S. has detained over 8,400 shipments at customs, ultimately refusing entry to 3,375 shipments. That's in addition to older U.S. laws that apply to a list of other products around the world.

«This system is having a real impact. There's teeth in the system,» Merkley said.

But he added a caveat, noting this program would be more useful if the U.S.'s neighbours to the north and south, Canada and Mexico, were also keeping these goods from the continent.

Canada's enforcement tally? Nil, so far. The Canada Border Services Agency tells CBC News it detained one delivery in Quebec in the fall of 2021, but the importer challenged the detention, and the shipment was allowed in.