Sponsor
Christopher Henry Smith
Representative · R-NJ
Representative · R-NJ
Official title: To ensure that goods made using or containing cobalt extracted or processed with the use of child or forced labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo do not enter the United States market.
Introduced September 10, 2026 by Christopher Henry Smith · Last progress September 10, 2026
The bill strengthens U.S. ability to detect and block cobalt linked to forced or child labor and improves transparency and enforcement, but it likely raises compliance costs, risks supply‑chain disruptions, and creates reputational/legal and administrative burdens.
Consumers and manufacturers will have clearer, CBP-backed authority and tools to trace and block imports linked to forced or child labor, reducing the risk that U.S. products contain cobalt mined with coercion.
U.S. manufacturers and consumers gain clearer information and compliance guidance about cobalt supply concentration and ownership, helping policymakers and companies diversify supplies and improve long-term resilience for EVs and electronics.
Workers and children in cobalt-producing regions benefit because documenting forced- and child-labor risks and using the statutory definition strengthens enforcement actions that discourage exploitative practices.
Consumers and downstream manufacturers may face higher prices as import restrictions, increased tracing requirements, and efforts to diversify away from DRC-sourced cobalt raise sourcing and compliance costs.
Electronics and EV supply chains, utilities, and financial firms could see disruptions, delays, or rerouting of imports, and artisanal miners and rural communities in the DRC could lose income if import restrictions are implemented without parallel economic support.
Companies and workers in the DRC named in an unclassified list could suffer reputational harm or legal exposure before full due process is applied, risking livelihoods and diplomatic friction.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Requires the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force to report within 180 days and produce a strategy to keep cobalt mined with forced/child labor in the DRC out of U.S. supply chains, with semiannual briefings and an 8-year sunset.
Requires the U.S. Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force to investigate and deliver, within 180 days, a strategy and unclassified report to Congress describing how to prevent cobalt mined with forced or child labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from entering the U.S. market. The Task Force must identify suspect DRC entities, prioritize downstream product categories, recommend tracing tools and CBP enforcement approaches, describe coordination with NGOs and industry, provide semiannual briefings, and operate under an eight-year sunset unless the President certifies the problem has ended. The law codifies congressional findings about the concentration of cobalt production in the DRC, documented forced and child labor there, and existing U.S. law that prohibits importation of goods made with forced labor. It sets definitions for terms used, designates the congressional committees to receive reports, and allows an optional classified annex to the report.