The US And Japan Make Task Forces, One Of Whose Tasks Accelerates The Handling Of Labor Cases In China

Illustration of workers in China. (Photo via ANTARA PHOTO/M. Irfan Ilmie)

JAKARTA - The United States and Japan have again entered into an agreement. This time the two countries agreed to form a task force.

The task force will be tasked with accelerating efforts to deal with forced labor and other human rights violations in the supply chain. The US Trade Representative Office and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry were appointed co-chairs.

The task force is expected to serve as a platform for sharing information between the two countries. In addition, they were also asked to facilitate dialogue with the business world as the United States continues to move to crack down on cases of forced labor in China.

The US law, which broadly prohibits imports from China's Xinjiang region, has poses new challenges to the supply chain. Washington believes that Uighurs Muslim minorities in Xinjiang are being targeted by forced labor.

The Xinjiang region is the main cotton-producing area and the main supplier of solar panels.

US Commerce Representative total Tai welcomed the signing of a memorandum on forced labor issues and called it a "real result" of the US and Japanese trade partnerships.

Japanese trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said at the signing of the memorandum that human rights abuses in supply chains were "tolerable".

He hopes the task force will help Japanese and US companies more actively engage in efforts to uphold human rights through increased "predictability" for businesses.

According to the memorandum, the task force participants intend to meet twice a year.

Para peserta satgas termasuk dari kalangan Kementerian Luar Negeri Jepang, Departemen perdagangan dan tenaga kerja AS, serta Kantor Bea Cukai dan Perlindungan Pertaminasi AS.