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Slave-Labor Loophole Closed by U.S. Senate After 8 Decades

  • Gap in law let slave-made products enter U.S. if needed
  • New focus on slavery in supply chains of global companies
A former slave demonstrates how he clears brush with his sickle on the piece of land which he lives and farms in Monsenhor Gil, Brazil.

A former slave demonstrates how he clears brush with his sickle on the piece of land which he lives and farms in Monsenhor Gil, Brazil.

Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty Images
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For 85 years, the U.S. government has turned a blind eye to companies that import goods derived from slavery -- so long as domestic production couldn’t meet demand for those goods. That’s about to change.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to close a loophole in the Tariff Act of 1930, which bars goods made by convict, forced or indentured labor, amid a new focus on slavery in the supply chains of global companies. Almost 21 million people are enslaved for profit worldwide, the United Nations says, annually providing $150 billion in illicit revenue.