COBALT Supply Chain Act

China’s Odious and Brutally Atrocious Labor Trafficking Supply Chain Act or the COBALT Supply Chain Act

This bill prohibits the importation of covered goods that contain cobalt refined in China under the presumption that the goods are made wholly or in part with forced labor or child labor. It also establishes certain reporting requirements, and requires presidential certification that federal vehicle purchases are free of parts made or mined with child labor or forced labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

Specifically, covered goods shall not be entitled to entry into the United States unless U.S. Customs and Border Protection (1) determines that the importer of record has demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that the goods do not contain cobalt refined in China, and (2) submits to Congress a report containing such a determination (and makes this report publicly available).

The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force must (1) report to Congress a strategy for preventing the importation of covered goods, and (2) provide quarterly briefings to Congress.

The President must annually certify to Congress whether all vehicles purchased in the prior year by the U.S. government are completely free of parts made or mined wholly or in part with child labor or forced labor in the DRC or the XUAR. This certification must be published in the Federal Register and shall not apply with respect to vehicles purchased in the prior year by the Department of Defense.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov