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The US Congress has passed a bill that requires companies to prove that goods imported from China's Xinjiang region were not produced with forced labour.
The US has accused China of genocide in its repression of the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority there - a charge that China has repeatedly rejected.
The bill had been criticised by major companies that do business in the area, including Coca-Cola, Nike and Apple.
Its passage also overcame initial lack of support from the White House.
It was approved by the Senate on Thursday with the vote of every member of Congress except one.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, as the bill is formally known, now heads to the desk of President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
The US accuses China of employing slavery and genocide in China's resource-rich western region. US and multinational corporations, which are already facing shortages over supply chain issues, had lobbied against it out of concern over how it would affect business.
"Many companies have already taken steps to clean up their supply chains. And, frankly, they should have no concerns about this law," said Florida Senator Marco Rubio, after the bill passed the upper chamber of Congress.
"For those who have not done that, they'll no longer be able to continue to make Americans - every one of us, frankly - unwitting accomplices in the atrocities, in the genocide."
US Congress passes import ban on Chinese Uyghur region
The bill overcame opposition from Coca-Cola, Nike and Apple and an initial lack of White House support.
www.bbc.com
The US Congress has passed a bill that requires companies to prove that goods imported from China's Xinjiang region were not produced with forced labour.
The US has accused China of genocide in its repression of the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority there - a charge that China has repeatedly rejected.
The bill had been criticised by major companies that do business in the area, including Coca-Cola, Nike and Apple.
Its passage also overcame initial lack of support from the White House.
It was approved by the Senate on Thursday with the vote of every member of Congress except one.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, as the bill is formally known, now heads to the desk of President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
The US accuses China of employing slavery and genocide in China's resource-rich western region. US and multinational corporations, which are already facing shortages over supply chain issues, had lobbied against it out of concern over how it would affect business.
"Many companies have already taken steps to clean up their supply chains. And, frankly, they should have no concerns about this law," said Florida Senator Marco Rubio, after the bill passed the upper chamber of Congress.
"For those who have not done that, they'll no longer be able to continue to make Americans - every one of us, frankly - unwitting accomplices in the atrocities, in the genocide."
