Report: US imports high percentage of goods made with forced labor

A research firm contracted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a report on forced labor in the global supply chain, the role it plays in international trade and how the U.S. can prevent importing goods made by slaves.

The report by the Rand Homeland Security Research Division – which operates the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center – estimates that 28 million people around the world are bound by forced labor, including some 3 million children.

The research was sponsored by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate and U.S. Customs and Border Protection with goals of eliminating U.S. imports of goods made with forced labor and ending the use of forced labor globally.

The 197-page report, published on Jan. 8, can be read here.

Forced labor around the globe

Section 307 of the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930, cited in the report, defines forced labor as “all work or service which is extracted from any person under the menace of any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer himself voluntarily.”

The Rand report stated that Asia and the Pacific, which includes China and India, has the most people in forced labor – around 15 million – though it does not have the highest share of population in forced labor per 1,000 people.

The Arab States …

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