WASHINGTON, D.C. – U. S. Representatives Zach Nunn (IA-03), Jennifer Wexton, Mike Gallagher, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Gregory Meeks, Young Kim, John Rose, and Brad Sherman today introduced bipartisan legislation to prevent international financial institutions (IFIs) from supporting projects that pose significant risk of using forced labor. The No Funds for Forced Labor Act would empower U.S. officials to protect U.S. taxpayer dollars by opposing IFI loans that use forced labor.
“The American taxpayer should never be funding or supporting corporations that exploit forced labor,” said Rep. Nunn. “This commonsense, bipartisan legislation will close loopholes and allow the United States to crack down on support for Chinese companies complicit in forced labor and forced labor across the world.”
A 2022 report released by the Atlantic Council found that the International Financial Corporation (IFC), the private lending body of the World Bank, has provided at least $486 million in financing to companies in Xinjiang as part of the organization’s work to uplift the private sector in developing countries. The IFC, and other similar international financial institutions, receive funding from governments around the world, including U.S. taxpayer dollars. Through these IFI investments, American taxpayer dollars are benefitting companies who are complicit in the Chinese government’s brutal forced labor of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.
The bipartisan No Funds for Forced Labor Act would require the U.S. Department of Treasury to oppose loan requests from international financial institutions to oppose projects that use forced labor.
Full text of the bill can be found here.
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