Bipartisan spending bill would force reports on Chinese labor practices, Keystone cancellation impact and more
The pipeline’s construction was first delayed under then-President Obama before being revived under the Trump administration
A bipartisan spending bill making its way through the Senate would, among other things, prompt a report on China’s alleged forced labor practices and another on the economic impact of President Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Per the terms of the bill, within three months of its enactment, the secretary, in coordination with the secretary of state, must produce a study on "forced labor in China on the electric vehicle supply chain."
Welders work on a joint between two sections of pipe during construction of the Gulf Coast Project pipeline in Prague, Oklahoma, U.S., on Monday, March 11, 2013. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
It also requires a report by the secretary of energy on job loss and the impacts of consumer energy costs as a result of the revocation of the Keystone XL permit.
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TC Energy Corporation, the Canadian firm behind the controversial pipeline, revoked its bid last month, ending a 13-year political battle between environmentalists and conservatives.
The pipeline’s construction was first delayed in 2015 under then-President Obama before being revived under the Trump administration in 2017.
Biden revoked TC Energy’s permit on his first day in office.
The report, as outlined in the proposed legislation, sets aside money for a study to estimate the total number of jobs that were consequently lost over a 10-year period beginning on the date Biden issued the executive order.
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TC Energy produced its own report, estimating that 11,000 U.S. jobs in 2021 would have been sustained, including 8,000 union jobs, along with generating $1.6 billion in gross wages.
It also requires a study on the impact on consumer energy costs that are projected over the same time period.
Both studies would have to be completed no later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of the bill.
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The bill is still in the preliminary stages and could be subject to change as it makes the rounds in Congress.
FOX Business' Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.