Antislavery elements exposed in US government—Who knew?

Migrants from Myanmar in a Malaysian shrimp processing facility. Somebody finally did something. Image via Quartz.

Somehow in spite of his passion for the enslavement of Southeast Asians, which caused him to foist on our helpless country a trade agreement that is the first trade agreement in history to require all countries in the agreement and Malaysia specifically by name to eliminate slavery, indentured servitude, and any and all kinds of forced labor and "adopt and maintain in their laws and practices the fundamental labor rights as recognized by the ILO" and take specific steps to put an end to forced labor and ill-treatment of migrant workers, and subjects governments that fail to protect workers to the same dispute resolution processes used to protect investors, only it might not work really well so that just goes to show that he doesn't care at all—Somehow,

Barack Obama is set to sign a law that would ban all US imports of fish caught by slave labor in south-east Asia, closing a loophole that has allowed seafood from forced labor to enter the country for decades.

Legislation passed by Congress last week would bar all imports of products that use convict, forced or indentured labor. The bill, which the president will ratify, ends an exemption in the US Tariff Act of 1930 that allows goods made by slaves to be imported if consumer demand cannot be met without them.

“It’s an outrage this loophole persisted for so long,” said Oregon senator Ron Wyden, who sponsored the bill. “No product made by people held against their will, or by children, should ever be imported to the United States.”

Could Obama actually be against slavery after all? I know it sounds crazy, bros. But think about it! Isn't it weird, after all, that the much more liberal Nixon never took care of this?

Seriously thanks, Congress, for getting this thing done, and thanks, Obama, for ushering it into effect. And thanks, journalists not in Washington, for forcing Americans to know about the problem in the first place.

The news coverage gives the impression that it's all about Thailand, which is not a party to the TPP, but it will certainly apply to Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Mexico, and possibly Peru, which are, as well as Ecuador, Bangladesh, and a lot of other countries, for seafood alone, and very widely for everything else from Pakistani carpets to Congolese coltan. It could be a welcome sign that the US is getting ready to fight against forced labor, in the Year Obama Ran Out of Fucks to give (e.g., for the US import entrepreneurs who profit from slave-shelled shrimp), whether using the tools provided in the TPP or others as in today's news.

New from last month on the TPP in the countries we worry about most, from Alana Semuels for the Atlantic (and backing up what I was predicting after the agreement was signed back in October):

The new Vietnam consistency plan requires that the country enact legal reforms that allow members to organize into unions, increase protections against employment discrimination, and stiffen penalties for forced labor. Vietnam will not be able to officially join the TPP until the United States has determined that the country has met the labor requirements outlined, which include allowing workers to join a union.

Malaysia—where workers often end up in forced labor, according to [Human Rights Watch Asia advocacy director John] Sifton—also has a consistency plan. It requires that the country lift restrictions that prevent workers from forming unions and improve the labor rights of migrant workers. It also requires that Malaysia make it illegal for employers to retain a worker’s passport. The country recently passed amendments to an anti-trafficking law, which the TPP would require the country to enforce, according to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The U.S. and Malaysian governments will meet annually for seven years after the agreement is signed to make sure labor changes are implemented, according to the plan.

Because you may not have heard about that from your favorite progressive websites, busy as they are pushing the political revolution that could happen this November if we all clap our hands very, very, very hard.

Such a plan hasn't been devised for Mexico, which doesn't sound like great news, although forced labor issues there may be ameliorated in the natural way by the same improved conditions for workers and burgeoning opportunities that have led to a virtual end to illegal Mexican immigration to the US (thanks, NAFTA, 20 years later). Now if we can only convince Texas to stop forcing its felony convicts to assemble circuit boards, we could be getting somewhere! Does Obama have any influence there?