THE issue of forced labour practices could just be an excuse used by the United States to ban Malaysian products, P. Ramasamy said today.

The Penang deputy chief minister said the US prohibition on imports of products originating from Malaysia could be linked to two other matters.

“One is related to the need to protect the US domestic industries from unhealthy competition and the other is the nature of global geopolitics.

“In fact, if the US is really after forced labour, virtually almost all the products from Malaysia will have to be banned.

“The US is targeting Malaysian products that compete with commodities produced in the US,” the DAP leader said in a statement.

He added the US could be using forced labour claims to justify banning Malaysia’s palm oil products, which were competing with soya bean and other US produce.

“Thus, the US, by giving the reason for forced labour, might be trying indirectly to protect its domestic industries from unfair competition, from imported products from Malaysia and other low-cost producing countries.

“The US is prone to use trade as a weapon for geopolitical reasons.”

Ramasamy added that the ongoing attempts to sideline China in the Asia-Pacific region might have to do with why the US is banning products from certain countries, including Malaysia.

“It is a nefarious attempt to keep countries like Malaysia and the others on their side.”

He said that Malaysia was forced to contend with the issue of forced labour because of its over-dependence on the US market.

He said efforts by the Malaysian government to deny forced labour practices might work locally, but have no impact on the US.

He also noted that the US, too, has been accused of forced labour practices as there are thousands being employed in the country under unfavourable labour and living conditions.

In recent months, the US Customs Border Protection (CBP) identified a number of Malaysian companies accused of forced labour practices, resulting in the ban on products by these companies. – June 5, 2022.