YourVoice.Now Summary
Corporate BenefitsAverage Household ImpactTransparency & AccountabilityGoods made with China-refined cobalt would be presumed forced-labor products and blocked at the border — EVs and electronics included.
Corporate Benefits
- Importer burden of proof — Clear and convincing evidence required to rebut the cobalt presumption
Average Household Impact
- Import restrictions on battery inputs — Applies to goods containing China-refined cobalt
Transparency & Accountability
- Reporting requirements — Customs must publish the evidence behind each exception within 30 days
- Reporting requirements — Task force must list Chinese cobalt refiners and US importers
- Reporting requirements — Quarterly congressional briefings on enforcement
- Federal procurement certification — President must certify federal vehicles are free of forced-labor parts
- Federal procurement certification — Defense Department vehicles exempted
- Enforcement strategy duration — Ends after 8 years or on a presidential determination
The details
Goods containing cobalt refined in China would be presumed to be made with forced or child labor, and blocked from entering the United States. Cobalt is a key ingredient in the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, phones, and laptops. An importer could still bring goods in by showing clear and convincing evidence that the cobalt was not refined in China. Customs would publish the evidence behind each exception within 30 days. The import rule takes effect 180 days after enactment. A federal task force would deliver an enforcement strategy within 120 days. It would name Chinese cobalt refiners, US importers, and Congolese mines owned or financed by Chinese firms, with quarterly briefings to Congress. Each year the President would certify that federally purchased vehicles contain no parts made with child or forced labor. That covers labor in Congo or Xinjiang. Defense Department vehicles are exempt. The strategy section ends after 8 years, or sooner if the President certifies that child and forced labor in Congo's mines has ended.
Congressional Summary
China’s Odious and Brutally Atrocious Labor Trafficking Supply Chain Act or the COBALT Supply Chain ActThis 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.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-03-24
- Date Added
- 2026-08-05
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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