[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7981 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7981

   To ensure that goods made using or containing cobalt extracted or 
   processed with the use of child or forced labor in the Democratic 
      Republic of the Congo do not enter the United States market.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 15, 2024

   Mr. Smith of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To ensure that goods made using or containing cobalt extracted or 
   processed with the use of child or forced labor in the Democratic 
      Republic of the Congo do not enter the United States market.

    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 ``Stop China's Exploitation of 
Congolese Children and Adult Forced Labor through Cobalt Mining Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Cobalt is an essential component of most lithium-ion 
        batteries, which are key components in many smartphones, 
        laptops, and electric vehicles, among other electronic devices. 
        According to the International Energy Agency (IAE), worldwide 
        demand is expected to increase over 1,000 percent for lithium 
        and 600 percent for cobalt by 2040, as demands for alternative 
        energy systems and battery storage are 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 are reportedly 
        owned wholly or in part by companies located in the People's 
        Republic of China.
            (4) Numerous analysts report significant concerns with 
        forced labor, including forced or indentured child labor, in 
        the DRC mining industry.
            (5) 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.
            (6) 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. INVESTIGATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 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 complete and submit to 
the appropriate congressional committees the results of an 
investigation into alleged use of forced labor in the cobalt mining 
industry of the DRC that--
            (1) contains a strategy for the United States Government to 
        effectively enforce section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 
        U.S.C. 1307) to prevent the importation into the United States 
        of cobalt mined by forced labor that includes measures that--
                    (A) can trace the origin of goods and offer greater 
                supply chain transparency relating to cobalt from the 
                DRC; and
                    (B) ensure that cobalt mined by forced labor does 
                not enter the United States;
            (2) contains a strategy to ensure that cobalt mined by 
        forced labor does not enter the United States market as goods 
        imported from third countries; and
            (3) contains a strategy to ensure that cobalt mined by 
        forced labor denied entry to the United States market does not 
        later enter the United States market.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The investigation required by 
subsection (a) shall include the following:
            (1) A list of--
                    (A) entities in the DRC that potentially mine or 
                process cobalt using forced labor; and
                    (B) categories of downstream products that include 
                cobalt mined in the DRC and are, therefore, identified 
                as priority sectors for enforcement under section 307 
                of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307).
            (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 cobalt 
        mined by forced labor in the DRC.
            (3) A description of how the list of entities required by 
        subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) shall be regularly updated 
        and reported to the appropriate congressional committees.
            (4) A strategy to coordinate and collaborate with 
        appropriate nongovernmental organizations and private sector 
        entities to implement the enforcement strategy for cobalt mined 
        with forced labor and to create and update the list of entities 
        required in subparagraph (A) 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 semiannual 
basis and, as applicable, on--
            (1) any updates to the strategy required by subsection (a);
            (2) any additional actions taken to prevent the importation 
        of cobalt mined with forced labor, including actions described 
        in this Act; and
            (3) any action U.S. Customs and Border Protection has taken 
        to enforce section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
        1307) with respect to cobalt mined in the DRC.
    (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 
        forced labor in the DRC mining industry has ended.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) 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 hand tools.
            (3) DRC.--The term ``DRC'' means the Democratic Republic of 
        the Congo.
            (4) 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).
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