U.S. Senator Tom Cotton has introduced legislation that would ban the import of seafood and aquaculture products from China.
“Fishing and aquaculture is yet another industry the Chinese Communist Party is weaponizing for their own gain through blatant abuse and slave labor. This legislation will stop imports of this illicit seafood by imposing real costs on the Chinese government and the companies that aid them,” Cotton said in a statement.
The bill is a response to an Ocean Outlaw Project report alleging that several Chinese seafood processors used Uyghur labor – illegal under U.S. law – in the production of seafood later exported to the U.S. Some seafood companies have cut ties with Chinese processors over the well-documented allegations, and other U.S. lawmakers have been pushing for legislation to address the issues raised in the report…