G-7 Countries Agree to Collectively Combat Forced Labor in Garment, Solar and Ag Sectors

The G-7 joint communique, released June 13, said, "We are concerned by the use of all forms of forced labour in global supply chains, including state-sponsored forced labour of vulnerable groups and minorities, including in the agricultural, solar, and garment sectors." While the communique did not identify China in its section on forced labor, the forced labor alleged in the solar industry is in Xinjiang, and the garment industry also has ties to Xinjiang, where Uyghur Muslims are held in re-education camps.

The countries did also address China directly. "With regard to China, and competition in the global economy, we will continue to consult on collective approaches to challenging non-market policies and practices which undermine the fair and transparent operation of the global economy. In the context of our respective responsibilities in the multilateral system, we will cooperate where it is in our mutual interest on shared global challenges, in particular addressing climate change and biodiversity loss ... . At the same time and in so doing, we will promote our values, including by calling on China to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially in relation to Xinjiang and those rights, freedoms and high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law."

The countries suggested that the World Trade Organization could be a means of addressing non-market practices. The statement said the WTO needs a modernized rulebook, including new rules for "the transformations underway in the global economy, such as digitalisation and the green transition." The statement also said there need to be stronger rules "to protect against unfair practices, such as forced technology transfer, intellectual property theft, lowering of labour and environmental standards to gain competitive advantage, market-distorting actions of state owned enterprises, and harmful industrial subsidies, including those that lead to excess capacity."

They said that the different standards for developing countries in Geneva, known as "special and differential treatment," need to evolve, since some countries' level of development has changed since the designation came into being, but the classification is still needed for "the special needs of the least developed and low-income developing countries."

They also said they agreed that long-standing issues need to be addressed in the WTO's dispute settlement and negotiating functions. On negotiating, they said they want the fisheries subsidies negotiation to reach a meaningful conclusion before November; they also said they will "engage constructively" in Geneva on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement waiver proposed to advance vaccine production. "We note the positive impact that voluntary licensing and technology transfer on mutually agreed terms have already made to increasing global supply," the statement said. "We will explore all options to ensure affordable and accessible COVID-19 tools for the poorest countries, including non-profit production, tiered and transparent pricing, and sharing by manufacturers of a proportion of production with COVAX."