Sponsors (3)
Requires the State Department to publish annual lists for five years naming PRC entities and mining sites in African countries linked to forced labor or environmental harm in protected areas.
Official title: To require the Secretary of State to annually issue a list of of People's Republic of China-origin entities carrying out mining involving forced labor or causing environmental harm in certain African countries, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 30, 2026 by Max Miller · Last progress April 30, 2026
The bill increases transparency about PRC-linked mining harms—helping U.S. buyers, policymakers, and human-rights efforts—while risking higher compliance costs for businesses and consumers, reputational/economic harms to named entities, potential misidentifications, and diplomatic strain without guaranteed remediation funding.
U.S. consumers, businesses, and financial institutions gain clearer, consolidated public information on PRC-linked mining entities tied to forced labor or environmental harm, enabling better purchasing, investment, and compliance decisions.
Relevant Congressional committees and policymakers receive recurring unclassified reports (with optional classified annexes), improving oversight and enabling more informed sanctions, trade, or policy responses.
Workers and rural communities near affected African protected areas could face reduced exploitation and harm as identified bad-actor mines are exposed to scrutiny.
U.S. consumers and taxpayers may face higher prices and disruption as companies incur increased compliance costs and adjust supply chains in response to public naming.
African communities and private companies — rather than the U.S. government — may bear the costs of remediation and lost business when entities are named without accompanying sanctions or funding for aid.
Targeted entities and their investors face reputational and economic harm from public listings that may be contested or inaccurate.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires the State Department to publish a public, unclassified list each year for five years naming PRC entities and the specific mines, zones, or concessions in specified African countries that U.S. officials reasonably assess are using forced labor or causing environmental harm in protected areas. The list must be built from open-source reporting, embassy information, and consultation with multiple U.S. agencies and foreign counterparts, with an optional classified annex for Congress. The requirement covers critical minerals, gold, and iron extraction in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Guinea, Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and other African countries, and directs interagency coordination in developing the reports.