H.R. 10346: Stop China’s Exploitation of Congolese Children and Adult Forced Labor through Cobalt Mining Act

This bill would direct the U.S. government to investigate whether cobalt mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is being produced with forced labor, including child labor, and to develop a plan to keep such cobalt out of the U.S. market.

What the bill does

• It states that cobalt is an important ingredient in lithium-ion batteries used in products like smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles.
• It notes that the DRC produces a large share of the world’s cobalt and that some mining there is reported to involve forced labor and child labor.
• It requires the U.S. Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force to complete an investigation within 180 days of enactment and submit a report to Congress.

Required report and enforcement plan

The report would need to include a strategy for enforcing existing U.S. law that bans imports made with forced labor. That strategy would have to address:

• how to trace cobalt back to its source and improve supply chain transparency;
• how to prevent cobalt mined with forced labor from entering the U.S.;
• how to stop such cobalt from reaching the U.S. through third countries; and
• how to prevent cobalt that has already been blocked or denied entry from later reentering the U.S. market.

Additional information the investigation must include

• A list of entities in the DRC that may mine or process cobalt using forced labor.
• A list of downstream product categories that contain DRC cobalt and should be treated as priority areas for enforcement.
• Recommendations for tools, technologies, and other methods U.S. Customs and Border Protection could use to identify and trace cobalt linked to forced labor.
• A plan for regularly updating the entity list and reporting those updates to Congress.
• A strategy for working with nongovernmental organizations and private companies to carry out enforcement and keep the entity list current.

Reporting requirements

The initial report and any public updates would have to be submitted in unclassified form, though a classified annex could be attached if needed. After the initial strategy is submitted, the Task Force would also have to brief Congress twice a year on:

• updates to the strategy;
• new actions taken to block forced-labor cobalt from entering the U.S.; and
• steps taken by Customs and Border Protection to enforce the forced-labor import ban for cobalt from the DRC.

How long the requirement lasts

The section would end after 8 years, or sooner if the President tells Congress that forced labor in DRC mining has ended.

Relevant Companies

• AAPL — Apple uses cobalt in batteries for many of its devices, so stronger tracing and import controls could affect its supply chain compliance and sourcing practices.
• TSLA — Tesla uses cobalt in some battery supply chains, and the bill could affect how it verifies cobalt sources for vehicles and energy storage products.
• GM — General Motors could face added sourcing and documentation requirements for battery materials used in electric vehicles.
• F — Ford could be affected through battery supply chain screening and compliance for electric vehicles.
• NVDA — NVIDIA uses batteries in some products and supply-chain components; impacts would likely be indirect and mainly through upstream electronics sourcing rather than direct cobalt purchasing.