From Cobalt to Cars: How China Exploits Child and Forced Labor in the Congo

Child and forced labor taint the supply chain of cobalt, a mineral that is a critical component in the lithium-ion batteries and other products important for modern technologies, including electric vehicles. Fully four-fifths of the world’s cobalt is buried under the ground in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”) and the mining and refining of the mineral is dominated by Chinese companies. 80% of the DRC’s cobalt output is owned by Chinese companies, refined in China, and then sold to battery makers around the world.

Mining of cobalt is linked to grave human rights abuses, including the exposure of miners to unsafe worksites and reliance on child and forced Congolese labor, as well as environmental degradation. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that at least 25,000 children are working in cobalt mines in the DRC.

This hearing will continue the CECC’s efforts to expose forced labor and other abuses in the supply chains that run through China and ensure that goods and products made with such labor do not enter U.S. markets. Witnesses will provide testimony about the malign presence of Chinese companies in cobalt supply chains, the extent of child and forced labor in those supply chains originating in the DRC, the PRC’s contribution to environmental degradation of the region, and recommendations for U.S. action. 

The hearing can be viewed on the CECC’s YouTube Channel