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Burchett/5SenatorGregory

S.S._____

ABILL

ToimposeatariffonimportstotheUnitedStatesforcompaniesthatdonotabidebytheChildLaborLawsofthe
UnitedStatesofAmerica.

BeitenactedbytheSenateandHouseofRepresentativesoftheUnitedStatesofAmericainCongressassembled,

SECTION1.SHORTTITLE

ThisactmaybecitedastheForeignChildLaborActof2015.

SECTION2.FINDINGS

Congressherebyfindsanddeclaresthat,
1)TheUnitedNations(UN)estimatesthatover200millionchildrenworldwideareengagedinchildlaborandthat
nearly70percentofthemareworkinginhazardousconditions.
2)Thevastmajority(70%)ofchildlaboraroundtheworldoccursinagriculture,fishing,hunting,andforestry.
3)Therecurrentlyisalackofpoliticalwilltoenforcecorelaborstandardsandgiveworkersbargainingpower.A
recentGovernmentAccountabilityOffice(GAO)reportmaintainsthat,ingeneral,theUSTRandtheDOLhavenot
systematicallyimplementedallkeyelementsofmonitoringandenforcementwithregardtoFTAlaborprovisions.
4)114outof143governmentscoveredinthisreportmadeatleastonemeaningfulefforttoadvancetheelimination
oftheworstformsofchildlabor.
5)Fiftysevengovernmentsmadeeffortsintheareasoflawsandregulations65governmentsmadeeffortsinthe
areaofenforcement39governmentsmadeeffortsintheareaofcoordination58countriesmadeeffortsinthearea
ofgovernmentpoliciesand77countriesmadeeffortsintheareaofsocialprograms.
6)FornonOECDcountries,tradewithOECDcountriesisespeciallybeneficialintermsofchildlabor.Forthe
averagenonOECDcountry,a10percentincreaseintheratiooftradewithOECDcountriestoGDPisassociated
witha9percentdeclineinchildlabor.
7)Challengingeconomicconditionsinmanycountriesduetothefinancialcrisiscontinuingfrom2008,andthe
consequentreduceddonormoneyforeducation,etc.havealsocontributedtomorechildrentrappedinworkto
supporttheirfamilies.
8)TheUnitedStatestradeswithcompaniesthatuseschildlaborillegally.
9)ChildLaborpreventschildrenfromgoingtoschool.
10)HighQualityEducationwhenachildisyoungyieldslongtermbenefitsforthechildaswellassocietyasa
whole.

SECTION3.STATUTORYLANGUAGE
A)TheForeignChildLaborActshallherebystartatariffof65%toimportsmanufacturedinoppositionofthecurrent
ChildLaborLawsofthefederalgovernmentoftheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
B)ThisbillshallbeoverseenbytheU.S.DepartmentofLaborBureauofInternationalLaborAffairs.
C)Thefirsttimethedelegatesgoout,theywillbefundedbytheallottedbudgetoftheU.S.DepartmentofLabor
BureauofInternationalLaborAffairs. TheproceedsfromthetariffshallpayfordelegatesoftheUnitedStates
federalgovernmenttogoinspectworkingconditionsofothercountriestoensureallGlobalChildLawsareinaffect,
approximately10milliondollarsperyear.
D)Theinspectorsshouldaimtogiverandominspectionstoadifferentfactoryorworkingenvironmenteverythree
months.
E)TheForeignChildLaborActshallbeenactedonJanuary1,2017.Afterfouryears,acompanydoesnotusechild
labor,thenthetariffwillbelifted.

ItisintheabilityofAmericancitizenstostopmillionsofchildren'ssuffering,yetasanation,wedonothing.These
childrenarechildlaborersthatsupplyendlessgoodstotheUnitedStatesunderlargeAmericanbasedcorporationsthatdonotabide
toourlaborlaws.ThiscausesmanydisadvantagestotheAmericanpeople.TheUnitedStatesshouldstartenforcingahightariff
ontogoodsthatarenotproducedabidingbyitschildlaborlawsbecauseitwillincreasejobsintheUnitedStates,reducetheamount
ofchildrenforcedintolabor,andoverallimprovequalityoflifearoundtheworld.
MajorUnitedStatesCorporationsareexportingtheirmanufacturingtoobscurecountriesbecausethechildlaborofthese
countriesissignificantlycheaper.ThiscorporationsincludeWalMart,Hanes,J.C.Penny,andPuma.This,inturn,allowsthese
corporationstoselltheirproductsforcheaperwhilestillmaintainingahighprofitmargin.However,withthenewtariffinplace,
thiswouldforcethesecorporationstoselltheirproductsforevenmoremoneythanoriginally.Theselargecorporationswouldnot
havethelargeprofitmargin,sincetheirworkerswouldhavebasichumanrights.This,inturn,wouldforcethemtostarttohire
backintheUnitedStates,creatingmillionsofjobshere,especiallysinceputtingMadeInAmericaonproductsisveryappealing
totheaverageAmericanconsumer.InfactastheinformationtechnologyconsultingfirmForresterprojects,thelosingU.S.jobsto
offshoringtototalaround3millionoverthenextdecade,orabout250,000layoffsayear.Thesejobswouldgobacktothe
Americanpeople.
ThedangersofChildLaborareextremelyprominentoverseasinmanythirdworldcountries.TheUnitedNations(UN)
estimatesthatover200millionchildrenworldwideareengagedinchildlaborandthatnearly70percentofthemareworkingin
hazardousconditions.Thismeansthataround171millionchildrenareworkinginhazardousconditionsaroundtheworld.This
figureisfartoolarge,andtheUnitedStatesshouldtakeanyactionpossibletostopthem,shortofwar.Creatingthistariffisaway
tostopthisheinouscrimeagainsthumanitywithouttheUnitedStatesoversteppingtheirauthorityoverlesspowerfulnations.Ifwe
didplaceatariffonmerchandisenotmadeabidingtoU.S.Regulations,itwouldencourageothercountiestocreatetheirownchild
laborlaws,sincetheUnitedStatesisthenumberonecountrythatimportsthingsintheworld..Asthenumberonecountry,wehold
apowerthatcaneasilyinfluencecountriesaroundtheworldtomakechangeontheirownfreewill.
Thisactwouldundoubtablyincreasethequalityoflifearoundtheworld.Thequalityoflifecanbedefinedasthehealth,
comfort,andoverallwellbeingofapersonorpeopleingeneral.Onetermthatisoftenbroughtupalongwithqualityoflifeis
accesstoeducationasachild.Basedonthe1990census,thePublicEducationSecretariatguessesmorethan2.5millionkids
between6to14don'tattendschool...duetoworkinginsteadWiththesenumbers,thequalityoflifeofthosechildrenisguaranteed
todecreasewithoutanopportunitytogetaneducation,whichworkingatayoungagewithholdsfromthem.Anotherimportantpart
ofqualitylifeissafety.Asstatedearlier,uptoseventypercentofchildlaborjobsareconsideredhazardous.TheDepartment's
BureauofInternationalLaborAffair's(ILAB)programcreatedin1993inresponsetoaCongressionalrequesttoinvestigateand
reportonabusivechildlaboraroundtheworld.Thisstudiedshowedthedirectcorrelationbetweenchildabuseandchildlabor,
whichshowshowlowthechildrenbeingforcedtoworks'qualityoflifetrulyis.
Inconclusion,theUnitedStatesshouldcreateatariffonalloftheimportstotheU.S.thatdonotabidebythecurrentChild
LaborLawsbecauseitwillincreasejobsintheUnitedStatesandissimplythemoralthingtodo.Millionsofchildrenaroundthe
worldaresufferingtremendouslyanditmaynotbeourresponsibilitytostopthem,butweasanationdefinitelyshouldnotbe
supportingorencouragingtheseawfulcrimesagainsthumanity.Thistariffmustbeputintoactionassoonaspossible,forthesake
ofthechildrenaroundtheworld.