Henrico Times

Today, Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) led the third roundtable discussion of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party’s Critical Minerals Policy Working Group. The discussion centered on forced labor and sustainability in critical mineral supply chains.

In June, Rep. Wittman was appointed to lead the working group, which aims to develop legislation and raise awareness through committee events to counter the CCP's dominance in critical minerals.

Earlier this month, the congressman led the group’s second roundtable discussion, focusing on the United States' heavy import reliance on critical minerals and the implications of price manipulation and supply shocks orchestrated by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Rep. Wittman opened today's session with a prepared statement:

“Thank you for joining me today for the third session of our Select Committee’s Critical Mineral Policy Working Group. Today’s discussion will focus on forced labor and sustainability in critical mineral supply chains.

As we’ve discussed in past sessions, the United States is heavily import reliant on the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for mined and refined critical minerals. This dependency has entangled our supply chains with egregious human rights abuses and environmental degradation. Instead of prioritizing the extraction and processing of critical minerals in regions that uphold high environmental and labor standards such as the United States and its allies, some in Western industry have instead chosen to outsource labor and environmental responsibilities to the PRC, prioritizing low costs over our core values. In places such as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chinese-led mining operations are driven by forced labor and contribute to severe environmental degradation. These practices violate U.S. laws and standards that we uphold domestically and demand from our trading partners.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), signed into law in December 2021, was a significant step toward addressing these issues. This law established a rebuttable presumption that goods produced in whole or in part in Xinjiang are produced with forced labor and are therefore restricted from entering the U.S. market. The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) maintains the UFLPA Entity List. Merchandise imported by entities identified by FLETF on this list are subject to UFLPA's rebuttable presumption and cannot be imported into the United States. To date, only 68 entities have been added to this list, raising questions about its scope, scale, and pace of additions even years after implementation underscores need for more comprehensive enforcement.

Recent updates to UFLPA Strategy by FLETF identified new high-priority sectors, including aluminum, subject to increased enforcement due to higher risk of forced labor involvement. This enforcement is crucial as research developed by Select Committee highlighted several entities in battery supply chain maintain extensive business relationships in Xinjiang linking them directly to forced labor practices requiring their addition to entity list.

Today’s discussion will focus on policies aimed at reducing dependence on entities involved in forced labor violations as well as opportunities for collaboration between United States and its allies addressing these issues examining impact on global market pricing competition particularly for U.S companies exploring environmental impacts associated with mining operations enforcing traceability sustainable practices.

We must strengthen efforts ensuring transparency traceability within global supply chains complying with U.S laws protecting human rights enhancing enforcement capabilities agencies like Customs Border Protection fostering international collaboration setting robust anti-forced labor provisions trade agreements.

Today we will hear from three participants bringing unique perspectives on forced labor sustainable mining critical mineral supply chains.

Mr Peter Mattis president The Jamestown Foundation will discuss congressional intent UFLPA actions Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force date

Ms Emily De La Bruyere senior fellow Foundation Defense Democracies co-founder Horizon Advisory will discuss PRC industrial policies highlighting connection forced labor practices impact global critical mineral supply chains

Dr Jennifer Hinton group manager ESG Jervois will share expertise environmental social governance practices global mining industry.”

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