The U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Forced Labor" bill, which undoubtedly planted another heavy mine for the photovoltaic industry!

On Dec. 8, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 428-1 to approve legislation that would impose economic sanctions on goods sold to the U.S. deemed to have "forced labor."

The legislation, known in its full name as the Forced Labor Prevention Law, would ban the importation of products made by the Muslim minority in northwestern China. But in fact, the bill will affect all products produced in the Xinjiang region, and will even be expanded to all products from China.

Rubio, the bill's promoter, explained, "This is a bill that if products are made in that part of China, they are assumed to be made by forced labor unless the manufacturer can prove that it was not."

This is consistent with the unreasonable seizure of products of Chinese photovoltaic manufacturers by the U.S. Customs. Since 80% of the world's photovoltaic modules, 90% of silicon wafers and polysilicon materials come from China, and Xinjiang's polysilicon production capacity accounts for more than 60% of China's.

A source of unwarranted suspicion and speculation, the Florida Republican told reporters in the Capitol the day before the vote, "I promise, as I speak to you now, everyone in this building has possessions made by Xinjiang forced labor. Stuff that most people don't know."

After the House of Representatives passes the legislation, it still needs to go to the President for final approval. But State Department spokesman Ned Price said Wednesday, "We're not against that. We're not lobbying against it."

Rubio said corporate interests are forcing the Biden administration to oppose the bill, arguing that the administration is "already trying to complicate matters in the Senate."

A State Department spokesman told reporters it was wrong: "Secretary Kerry has a 37-year history as a senator and secretary of state defending human rights and defending democracy. As Secretary Kerry has said from the beginning, the United States and China There is a shared interest in that there is still time to resolve the climate crisis, even as we fundamentally disagree on other key issues."

The White House has not said whether the president supports the bill. If President Biden approves the bill, it will undoubtedly lay another heavy mine for the PV trade war between China and the United States, which is in the process of easing.