Child Labor Banned in . . . 2016?

By Alex Yeager

In the category of “things you can’t believe are still legal,” President Obama signed a provision on Wednesday that finally closed a trade loophole allowing the importation of goods made by child and forced labor.  The loophole, which originated from the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930, allowed goods procured by these means to be imported as needed by U.S. consumer demand.  The provision allows other bans on these materials to have more binding force, and will prevent the importation of products such as fish caught by slaves in Southeast Asia, and gold mined by children in Africa.