Obama bans US imports of slave-produced goods

[webfact]

Obama bans US imports of slave-produced goods
MARTHA MENDOZA, Associated Press

WASHINGTON: -- President Barack Obama signed a bill Wednesday that includes a provision banning U.S. imports of fish caught by slaves in Southeast Asia, gold mined by children in Africa and garments sewn by abused women in Bangladesh, closing a loophole in an 85-year-old tariff law that has failed to keep products of forced and child labor out of America.

An expose by The Associated Press last year found Thai companies ship seafood to the U.S. that was caught and processed by trapped and enslaved workers. As a result of the reports, more than 2,000 trapped fishermen have been rescued, more than a dozen alleged traffickers arrested and millions of dollars' worth of seafood and vessels seized.

Until now, U.S. customs law banning imports of items produced by forced or child labor had gone largely unenforced because of two words: "consumptive demand" — if there was not sufficient supply to meet domestic demand, imports were allowed regardless of how they were produced.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who offered the amendment eliminating that exception, said Wednesday his office is already asking U.S. Customs and Border Protection to ensure they begin enforcing the new rules when the law takes effect in 15 days.

"It's embarrassing that for 85 years, the United States let products made with forced labor into this country, and closing this loophole gives the U.S. an important tool to fight global slavery," he said.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-02-25

[terryp]

its a good job thailand wiped out slavery here .................

[craigt3365]

This could be a very big stick against Thailand. Though they've said they are doing things to address this problem, and they are, the root causes are still there. No "big fish" have been prosecuted yet.

[Crash999]

Nothing will change. Most other countries that make cheap stuff are worse than Thailand.

[SgtRock]

WASHINGTON: -- President Barack Obama signed a bill Wednesday that includes a provision banning U.S. imports of fish caught by slaves in Southeast Asia, gold mined by children in Africa and garments sewn by abused women in Bangladesh, closing a loophole in an 85-year-old tariff law that has failed to keep products of forced and child labor out of America.

What is seen as slave labour in the West, is possibly a matter of life and death in other Countries. Eradication of slave labour is easy when there is a benefit system in place to feed people.

It may not be nice, but it is reality.

Before anyone wants to jump all over me, I do not condone slave labour.

[neverdie]

......meanwhile, the Obama administration drives the US economy to the shiiiithouse and soon enough the Americans government will have 300 million home grown slaves of their own.

[TheCruncher]

So I guess Nike can not be sold in the US anymore now.

[ezzra]

Just another PC act to appease a certain segments of the society, for years those people have enjoyed

the fruits of a forced and salve labor, infect some of the very items they have at hop or office

has been obtained by forced and slave labor,, and beside, how can tell the different between

those products to the bona fied products if all are labeled the same?.....

[manarak]

I wonder how they assess that goods were produced using slave labor?

I expect them to make guesses based on the price of said products.

Soon products will only be okay for import into western countries if they are too expensive to purchase.

[iReason]

Meanwhile, in today's Guardian:

"Slavery, trafficking, murder and corruption at all levels of government still pervade in Thailand's billion dollar fishing industry, activists claim"

“Our investigations at sea and across the Thai seafood sector continue to find extensive violence, corruption and abuse,”

said Steve Trent, director of the Environmental Justice Foundation, an NGO that has been working with the Thai government on the issue."

“Slaves are still on the boats; nationals of neighbouring states are still trafficked in to provide cheap or free labour, and Thai fishing vessels continue to fish illegally and unsustainably,

thereby reinforcing the economic incentives to use bonded, forced and slave labour to keep the costs down.”

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/feb/25/slavery-trafficking-thai-fishing-industry-environmental-justice-foundation

Strange how these NGO's can find all this evidence while Thailand's current government (shown in a recent poll to be significantly transparent) cannot.

Edited February 25, 2016 by iReason

[krystian]

ban the Iphone/Apple!

[mopar71]

ban the Iphone/Apple!

This move by the Obama Admin is probably aimed at Apple for refusing to cooperate with the FBI. Everyone has heard about the awful slave-like conditions that Apple products are produced under in China. Posing at Starbucks is well worth it though.

[gyrosman]

How about STOP Chinese imports Wal-mart. Do your F^%$ing homework.

[harrry]

So I guess Nike can not be sold in the US anymore now.

Only if it is made in the slave factories.....the stuff that i made by small independent producers gets stolen at the border as IP infringement.

[Thechook]

Wonder if they will stop their slave labour in the prison system in the US.

Just lock them in their cells 24/7 and stop teaching them work skills. They are convicted criminals and this hug a criminal brigade is the cause of the rise of crime.

[umbanda]

Hummmmm....How about the Ford engines produced in China??? The Chinese employees are paid with bunk beds "accommodations" and vouchers to change it for food and goods on the factory store....and alcohol on the weekend factory party.

If that is not slavery..what it is?

[NovaBlue05]

Wouldn't this put WalMart out of business?

[Scott]

Numerous off-topic posts and replies have been removed.

I strongly suggest you get back on the topic and stay on the topic.

Constant, anti-American bashing is not going to be tolerated nor is what appears to some members support of slavery.

[craigt3365]

Hummmmm....How about the Ford engines produced in China??? The Chinese employees are paid with bunk beds "accommodations" and vouchers to change it for food and goods on the factory store....and alcohol on the weekend factory party.

If that is not slavery..what it is?

Link, please.

[sebastion]

Apple products banned? I dont think so.

[sanukjim]

its a good job thailand wiped out slavery here .................

Yea,sure

[BudRight]

Nothing will change. Most other countries that make cheap stuff are worse than Thailand.

Yeah, slavery in Thailand is probably okay then.

[willyumiii]

This means Wal-Mart will go out of business without goods produced in China!

[gandalf12]

Nothing will change. Most other countries that make cheap stuff are worse than Thailand.

Agreed but that is not an excuse

[Traveler19491]

......meanwhile, the Obama administration drives the US economy to the shiiiithouse and soon enough the Americans government will have 300 million home grown slaves of their own.

I'd be very interested to see the facts backing up your assertion. 70 consecutive months of job growth with unemployment now below 5% (http://www.politicususa.com/2015/11/06/obama-economy-sets-record-job-growth-streak-surges.html), record growth in the Dow (http://www.macrotrends.net/1358/dow-jones-industrial-average-last-10-years), cutting Dubya's $1.4 Trillion (with a "T") deficit that was bequeathed to him to below a half billion, cutting the deficit for six years in a row (http://trofire.com/2015/09/16/gop-wrong-again-obama-set-to-eliminate-deficit-by-2017-clinton-last-pres-to-do-it/), household incomes up, albeit modestly (http://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/01/us-personal-income-dec-2015.html). No, the American economy is not robust, and, yes, this is one of the slowest recoveries on record. But, when you have the leader of the Republicans in the Senate stating, at the height of the recession, that his top priority was making Obama a one term President (and taking his eye off of the needs of the American people to obstruct recovery efforts at every opportunity in order to do so worked out really well, didn't it?), just exactly how was the President supposed to make it a better recovery?

I'm guessing you're pining for the "good old days" under Shrub, when we were shedding jobs at 800,000 per month, people had lost half their retirement savings in the markets, foreclosures were decimating the middle and working classes, our national debt was doubled, and the deficit grew to insane proportions thanks to his two "off the books" illegal wars. And before you try to use that pathetic trope about Obama giving us a $20 Trillion national debt...while it's quite true that the national debt will soon rise to that level, it's nothing but pure BS to try to blame that on Obama. The national debt is a function of two things...deficit spending, and accumulated interest on that debt. It was Dubya who set in motion the deficit spending that is now hyper inflating the debt. Obama has cut Shrub's deficit by two thirds, thus slowing the runaway debt train that "The question we have to ask ourselves is, is our children learning" boy stripped the brakes off of.

Pretty sad post when I can't even say, "Nice try", mostly because it was a pathetic effort.

[Scott]

Please stay on the topic.

[NickJ]

Consumptive Demand?????......What a horrible disgisting excuse.

[umbanda]

Hummmmm....How about the Ford engines produced in China??? The Chinese employees are paid with bunk beds "accommodations" and vouchers to change it for food and goods on the factory store....and alcohol on the weekend factory party.

If that is not slavery..what it is?

Link, please.

That was reported by Newsweek Magazine many years ago.....

[craigt3365]

Hummmmm....How about the Ford engines produced in China??? The Chinese employees are paid with bunk beds "accommodations" and vouchers to change it for food and goods on the factory store....and alcohol on the weekend factory party.

If that is not slavery..what it is?

Link, please.

That was reported by Newsweek Magazine many years ago.....

Fine, but hard to substantiate without the facts. I pretty much guarantee Ford didn't know what was going on. Too much risk for them. Probably done by their Chinese counterparts. Or like this:

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30532463

"At the smelter there's everything from both large and small scale mines. It's all mixed. There's no way to know what is legal and what is illegal."

...........

"The simplest course of action would be for Apple to unilaterally refuse any tin from Indonesian mines. That would be easy for us to do and would certainly shield us from criticism.

"But that would also be the lazy and cowardly path, since it would do nothing to improve the situation. We have chosen to stay engaged and attempt to drive changes on the ground."

[Nomyai]

......meanwhile, the Obama administration drives the US economy to the shiiiithouse and soon enough the Americans government will have 300 million home grown slaves of their own.

I'd be very interested to see the facts backing up your assertion. 70 consecutive months of job growth with unemployment now below 5% (http://www.politicususa.com/2015/11/06/obama-economy-sets-record-job-growth-streak-surges.html), record growth in the Dow (http://www.macrotrends.net/1358/dow-jones-industrial-average-last-10-years), cutting Dubya's $1.4 Trillion (with a "T") deficit that was bequeathed to him to below a half billion, cutting the deficit for six years in a row (http://trofire.com/2015/09/16/gop-wrong-again-obama-set-to-eliminate-deficit-by-2017-clinton-last-pres-to-do-it/), household incomes up, albeit modestly (http://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/01/us-personal-income-dec-2015.html). No, the American economy is not robust, and, yes, this is one of the slowest recoveries on record. But, when you have the leader of the Republicans in the Senate stating, at the height of the recession, that his top priority was making Obama a one term President (and taking his eye off of the needs of the American people to obstruct recovery efforts at every opportunity in order to do so worked out really well, didn't it?), just exactly how was the President supposed to make it a better recovery?

I'm guessing you're pining for the "good old days" under Shrub, when we were shedding jobs at 800,000 per month, people had lost half their retirement savings in the markets, foreclosures were decimating the middle and working classes, our national debt was doubled, and the deficit grew to insane proportions thanks to his two "off the books" illegal wars. And before you try to use that pathetic trope about Obama giving us a $20 Trillion national debt...while it's quite true that the national debt will soon rise to that level, it's nothing but pure BS to try to blame that on Obama. The national debt is a function of two things...deficit spending, and accumulated interest on that debt. It was Dubya who set in motion the deficit spending that is now hyper inflating the debt. Obama has cut Shrub's deficit by two thirds, thus slowing the runaway debt train that "The question we have to ask ourselves is, is our children learning" boy stripped the brakes off of.

Pretty sad post when I can't even say, "Nice try", mostly because it was a pathetic effort.

Obama said deficit spending is very UN-american.