[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6909 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6909

  To ensure that goods made using or containing cobalt refined in the 
People's Republic of China do not enter the United States market under 
the presumption that the cobalt is extracted or processed with the use 
     of child and forced labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 29, 2023

  Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Van Drew, and Mr. Nunn of 
    Iowa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on 
 Foreign Affairs, and Oversight and Accountability, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To ensure that goods made using or containing cobalt refined in the 
People's Republic of China do not enter the United States market under 
the presumption that the cobalt is extracted or processed with the use 
     of child and forced labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``China's Odious and Brutally 
Atrocious Labor Trafficking Supply Chain Act'' or the ``COBALT Supply 
Chain Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Cobalt is an essential component of lithium-ion 
        batteries, which are predominantly used for electric vehicles, 
        smartphones, and laptops, among other electronic devices. 
        According to the International Energy Agency, the world is 
        expected to see a fortyfold increase in lithium demand and a 
        twentyfold increase in cobalt demand by 2040, as the demand for 
        electric vehicles is expected to grow significantly during this 
        period.
            (2) More than one-half of the world's cobalt resources are 
        in the DRC, which supplied approximately 70 percent of the 
        global cobalt mine production in 2021.
            (3) Fifteen of the DRC's 19 cobalt mines were owned or 
        financed by PRC companies.
            (4) Firms based in the PRC hold a near monopoly in the 
        DRC's cobalt sector, according to the Biden Administration.
            (5) The mining industry in the DRC is beset with child 
        labor and forced labor, disregard for worker safety, and 
        environmental degradation.
            (6) Approximately 15 to 30 percent of cobalt produced in 
        the DRC comes from artisanal and small-scale mining. An 
        estimated 255,000 miners work in artisanal and small-scale 
        mining in the DRC, of whom at least 40,000 are children.
            (7) Artisanal production was chiefly exported to the PRC or 
        processed within the DRC by PRC firms, according to an article 
        ``China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and artisanal 
        cobalt mining from 2000 through 2020'' published in Proceedings 
        of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed 
        journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
            (8) In the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report, the 
        Department of State emphasized that ``In the [DRC,] artisanal 
        and small-scale mining of cobalt has been associated with 
        forced child labor and other abuses'', noting further that 
        ``Since 2015, the TIP Report narratives on the DRC have 
        highlighted forced labor of children in artisanal cobalt 
        mines.''. The DRC is on the Tier 2 Watch List, and will be 
        automatically downgraded to Tier 3, subjecting it to sanctions, 
        if it does not substantively and consistently improve its 
        record on trafficking.
            (9) Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307) 
        states that it is illegal to import into the United States 
        ``goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or 
        manufactured wholly or in part'' by forced labor, including 
        forced or indentured child labor. Such merchandise is subject 
        to exclusion or seizure and may lead to criminal investigation 
        of the importer.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States to--
            (1) ensure that the PRC does not undermine the effective 
        enforcement of section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
        1307);
            (2) lead the international community in ending child labor 
        and forced labor practices wherever such practices occur 
        through all means available to the United States Government, 
        including by prohibiting the importation of goods made with 
        cobalt or containing cobalt extracted from the DRC by companies 
        from the PRC;
            (3) recognize that the PRC's dominance in DRC's cobalt 
        extraction and the processing and refining of cobalt is a 
        national security concern of the United States that requires a 
        strategy developed jointly by the Secretary of State, the 
        Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, and the heads 
        of other appropriate Federal agencies; and
            (4) coordinate with Mexico and Canada to effectively 
        implement Article 23.6 of the United States-Mexico-Canada 
        Agreement to prohibit the importation of goods produced in 
        whole or in part by forced labor or compulsory labor, including 
        those goods produced in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 
        (XUAR), including the processing of cobalt and goods made with 
        cobalt.

SEC. 4. REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION THAT COVERED GOODS ARE GOODS THAT ARE 
              MADE WHOLLY OR IN PART WITH FORCED LABOR OR CHILD LABOR.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the 
Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection--
            (1) shall apply a presumption that covered goods are goods 
        that are made wholly or in part with forced labor or child 
        labor; and
            (2) shall prohibit the entry of such goods at any of the 
        ports and the United States, and shall otherwise prohibit the 
        importation of such goods, in accordance with section 307 of 
        the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307).
    (b) Exception.--The requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) of 
subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to covered goods if the 
Commissioner determines that the importer of record of the covered 
goods has demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that such goods 
do not contain cobalt refined in the PRC.
    (c) Report Required.--The Commissioner shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees and make available to the public, 
not later than 30 days after making a determination to apply the 
exception under subsection (b) with respect to any covered goods, a 
report identifying the evidence for such determination.
    (d) Regulations.--The Commissioner may prescribe regulations--
            (1) to implement subsection (b); or
            (2) to amend any other regulations in order to implement 
        this section.
    (e) Effective Date.--This section takes effect on the date that is 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (f) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be construed 
to limit the application of regulations in effect on, or measures taken 
before, the date of the enactment of this Act to prevent the 
importation of goods mined, produced, or manufactured, wholly or in 
part, with forced labor into the United States, including withhold 
release orders issued before such date of enactment.

SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT STRATEGY TO ADDRESS CHILD LABOR AND FORCED LABOR 
              RELATING TO COVERED GOODS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, 
established under section 741 of the United States-Mexico-Canada 
Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 4681), in consultation with the 
heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a report that--
            (1) contains an enforcement strategy of the United States 
        Government to effectively address enforcement of section 307 of 
        the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307) to prevent the 
        importation into the United States of covered goods that 
        includes measures that--
                    (A) can be taken to trace the origin of goods, 
                offer greater supply chain transparency, and identify 
                third country supply chain routes for the covered 
                goods; and
                    (B) ensure that covered goods do not enter the 
                United States;
            (2) contains a strategy to ensure that covered goods do not 
        enter the United States market as goods imported from third 
        countries, including from Canada or Mexico;
            (3) contains a strategy to ensure that covered goods denied 
        entry to the United States market do not later enter the United 
        States market through third countries;
            (4) describes authorities to seize or destroy covered goods 
        denied entry to the United States; and
            (5) describes measures to address child labor and forced 
        labor in the mining, production, smelting, or processing of 
        metals or minerals, in particular cobalt and lithium and their 
        derivatives, in the DRC.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The strategy required by subsection 
(a) shall include the following:
            (1) A list of--
                    (A) covered goods;
                    (B) entities that refine cobalt in the PRC;
                    (C) entities that mine cobalt in the PRC and 
                whether any of these entities operate in the Xinjiang 
                Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR);
                    (D) entities that import covered goods in the 
                United States;
                    (E) entities, in the DRC, owned or controlled by 
                PRC entities, or financed by PRC state-owned banks or 
                institutions that mine or process cobalt; and
                    (F) priority sectors for enforcement of imports 
                made with covered PRC goods, with a sector-specific 
                enforcement plan for each priority sector.
            (2) Recommendations for efforts, initiatives, and tools and 
        technologies to be adopted to ensure that U.S. Customs and 
        Border Protection can accurately identify and trace covered 
        goods.
            (3) A description of the additional resources necessary for 
        U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other Federal entities, 
        including the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, to 
        effectively implement the strategy.
            (4) A description of how the list of entities required by 
        subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D) of paragraph (1) shall be 
        regularly updated and reported to the appropriate congressional 
        committees.
            (5) A strategy to coordinate and collaborate with 
        appropriate nongovernmental organizations and private sector 
        entities to implement the enforcement strategy for covered 
        goods and to create and update the list of entities required in 
        subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (1).
    (c) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) and any publicly 
published updates described by subsection (d) shall be submitted in 
unclassified form, but may include a classified annex, if necessary.
    (d) Updates.--After the submission of the strategy required by 
subsection (a), the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force shall provide 
briefings to the appropriate congressional committees on a quarterly 
basis and, as applicable, on any updates to the strategy required by 
subsection (a) or additional actions taken to address the importation 
of covered goods, including actions described in this Act.
    (e) Sunset.--This section shall cease to have effect on the earlier 
of--
            (1) the date that is 8 years after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act; or
            (2) the date on which the President submits to the 
        appropriate congressional committees a determination that child 
        labor and forced labor in the mining industry of the DRC has 
        ended, including artisanal and small-scale mining sectors.

SEC. 6. CERTIFICATION THAT FEDERAL VEHICLE PURCHASES ARE FREE OF PARTS 
              MADE OR MINED WITH CHILD LABOR OR FORCED LABOR.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), not later 
than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 
thereafter, the President shall certify whether all vehicles purchased 
in the prior year by the United States Government are completely free 
of parts made or mined, wholly or in part, with child labor or forced 
labor in the DRC or the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
    (b) Exception.--The certification required by subsection (a) shall 
not apply with respect to vehicles purchased in the prior year by the 
Department of Defense.
    (c) Submission to Congress; Publication in Federal Register.--The 
President shall--
            (1) submit the certification required by subsection (a) to 
        the appropriate congressional committees; and
            (2) publish such certification in the Federal Register.
    (d) Documentation for Certification.--Documentation mapping the 
supply chains of all the vehicles and their parts, procured in the 
prior year by the United States Government, shall be available upon 
request by Members of Congress from the Department of Homeland 
Security.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 
                on Financial Services, and the Committee on Ways and 
                Means of the House of Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
                Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and 
                the Committee on Finance of the Senate.
            (2) Artisanal and small-scale mining.--The term ``artisanal 
        and small-scale mining''--
                    (A) means mining with minimal to no mechanization; 
                and
                    (B) includes the use of intensive handtools.
            (3) Child labor.--The term ``child labor'' means work that 
        deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and 
        their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental 
        development, as such term is commonly used by the International 
        Labour Organization.
            (4) Covered goods.--The term ``covered goods'' means goods, 
        wares, articles, or merchandise that contain cobalt refined in 
        the PRC.
            (5) DRC.--The term ``DRC'' means the Democratic Republic of 
        the Congo.
            (6) Forced labor.--The term ``forced labor'' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 307 of the Tariff Act of 
        1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307).
            (7) PRC.--The term ``PRC'' means the People's Republic of 
        China.
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