Disclose products made in China: Republican Senator tables bill in House

Amid growing anti-Chinese sentiments in the US, a top Republican Senator has introduced a legislation in the Congress requiring online retailers like Amazon to disclose products made in China.

The Bill, introduced on Wednesday, stipulates that online retailers legibly state on a noticeable place on their webpage if a product or a major component of that product originated in China, or if the product was manufactured or assembled in that country.

“American consumers deserve to know if a product they purchase online is made in China before they buy it, particularly now as we continue to suffer from the fallout of a pandemic that Beijing unleashed on the world,” Senator Martha McSally said. “China works every day to subvert American interests and supplant the US as the world's dominant power,” she said.

The Bill requires transparency from online retailers like Amazon, so that consumers are not misled about the origin of any products made in China, McSally said. The bill would amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to require online retailers to disclose the origin of articles that come from China. 

The Bill defines online retailers as any person that sells, through an online marketplace or e-commerce platform and requires them to legibly state on a conspicuous place on the webpage if the article originated in China, if any major component of the article originated in China, if the article was manufactured in China and if the article was assembled in China.