President Joe Biden's administration is not lobbying against a U.S. bill that would ban some Chinese imports over concern about forced labor among Uyghurs, which Republicans have accused Democrats of stalling, the White House said on Friday, APA reports quoting Reuters.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which would ban imports from China’s Xinjiang region, is set to be considered by the House of Representatives as soon as next week, the bill's sponsor, congressman Jim McGovern, told reporters on Thursday.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki responded to a Washington Post reportthat suggested the Biden administration was telling lawmakers to slow the bill down while the White House pursues a more targeted approach, rather than a blanket ban on goods from the region, and support from other countries.
The Post article said Biden administration sources had confirmed that in an October call between Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, a co-sponsor of the bill, Sherman made it clear the administration preferred such an approach.
It said she told Merkley that getting buy-in of allies was critical and more effective than unilateral action.
Sherman was asked at a Brookings Institution event with the chief of the European Union's diplomatic service on Friday whether the administration supported a bill banning goods from Xinjiang on the assumption they were tainted by forced labor.
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