Human Trafficking and U.S. Foreign Policy: An Introduction
Updated November 16, 2023
Human Trafficking and U.S. Foreign Policy: An Introduction
What is human trafficking?
programs through regular appropriations, Congress has
Human trafficking (also known as trafficking in persons)
shaped U.S. policy to combat international human
refers to the subjection of men, women, or children to
trafficking through a range of legislative provisions focused
exploitative conditions that may be tantamount to modern-
on discrete aspects of this issue. In chronological order,
day slavery. From a foreign policy perspective, human
selected key statutes include the following:
trafficking can be viewed as a human rights problem, a
• Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.
manifestation of transnational organized crime, and a
§1307), which prohibits the importation of foreign
violation of core international labor standards. Human
goods made wholly or in part by forced labor.
trafficking also raises economic development, international
migration, and global governance and security issues, and
• Title XVII of the National Defense Authorization Act,
disproportionately victimizes vulnerable populations.
Fiscal Year 2013 (NDAA; P.L. 112-239), which
expanded provisions in the TVPA to prevent trafficking
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA;
in the federal procurement context. (The End Human
Division A of P.L. 106-386; 22 U.S.C. §7101 et seq.)
Trafficking in Government Contracts Act of 2022 [P.L.
defines “severe forms of trafficking in persons” to include
117-211] further amended these provisions.)
• sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced
• Section 910 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade
by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person
Enforcement Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-125), which
induced to perform such act is under age 18; or
eliminated an exception to the forced labor import ban
•
under Section 307 of the Tariff Act that had allowed
the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or
imports if the level of U.S. domestic production of such
obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the
products did not meet U.S. “consumptive demands.”
use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of
subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt
• Section 1298 of the NDAA for FY2017 (P.L. 114-328),
bondage, or slavery.
which authorized “transformational” international
assistance projects to combat “modern slavery” (see
The recruitment or use of child soldiers, as defined in the
“The Program to End Modern Slavery” below).
Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 (CSPA, Title IV of
•
P.L. 110-457; 22 U.S.C. §2370c et seq.), is also considered
Section 321 of the Countering America’s Adversaries
a form of human trafficking. (For information on the CSPA,
Through Sanctions Act (P.L. 115-44), which amended
see CRS In Focus IF10901, Child Soldiers Prevention Act:
the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act
Security Assistance Restrictions.)
(P.L. 114-122) to require sanctions on foreign persons
employing North Korean laborers and to create a
How has Congress responded?
rebuttable presumption that goods mined, produced, or
For nearly two decades, the cornerstone legislation to
manufactured by such labor are prohibited from
address international human trafficking has been the TVPA,
importation pursuant to Section 307 of the Tariff Act.
as reauthorized and/or amended most notably in 2003 (P.L.
• P.L. 117-78, commonly referred to as the Uyghur
108-193), 2005 (P.L. 109-164), 2008 (P.L. 110-457), 2013
Forced Labor Prevention Act, which among other
(P.L. 113-4), and 2019 (P.L. 115-425; P.L. 115-427).
provisions created a rebuttable presumption that goods
mined, produced, or manufactured in China’s Xinjiang
The TVPA established numerous key elements of the U.S.
region, or by certain Xinjiang-related entities, are
foreign policy response to human trafficking, including the
prohibited from importation pursuant to Section 307 of
State Department’s Office to Combat and Monitor
the Tariff Act.
Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office), interagency entities to
coordinate anti-trafficking policies across U.S. agencies,
What is the State Department’s role?
authorities to provide anti-trafficking foreign aid, and the
The State Department leads federal efforts to combat
requirement for the State Department to annually publish
human trafficking. The Secretary of State chairs the
reports on trafficking in persons (known as the TIP Report).
President’s Interagency Task Force (PITF) to Monitor and
Combat Trafficking in Persons, which met most recently in
Both U.S. policy, through the TVPA, and international law
February 2023. The Director of the TIP Office chairs the
(e.g., the U.N. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Senior Policy Operating Group (SPOG), a working-level
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children),
interagency entity to coordinate federal responses. The TIP
broadly view anti-trafficking responses as encompassing
Office also administers international anti-trafficking grant
efforts to protect victims, prosecute traffickers, and prevent
programs and prepares the annual TIP Report.
opportunities for traffickers to exploit (known as the 3Ps).
In addition to the TVPA and funding anti-trafficking
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What is the TIP Report?
and for-profit organizations. Such programming has
The TVPA requires State to prepare a report, due June 30
included the following:
each year, describing and ranking the anti-trafficking efforts
• Bilateral and regional projects to address one or more
of the United States and foreign governments.
of the 3Ps of anti-trafficking in priority countries, as
How are countries ranked?
guided in part by TIP Report findings. Activities may
focus, for example, on improving victim services or
Countries fall into one of four possible tiers or categories:
building justice system capacity to prosecute cases.
Tier 1 (best), Tier 2, Tier 2 Watch List, and Tier 3 (worst).
Only Tier 1 countries comply with the TVPA’s minimum
• The Program to End Modern Slavery (PEMS), which
standards for eliminating trafficking, while the rest are
combines prevalence research methods with targeted
noncompliant and vary in terms of their level of effort.
programming toward the goal of showing measurable
reductions in human trafficking from specific
What are the minimum standards?
interventions. PEMS launched in 2017 and has
To be eligible for a Tier 1 ranking, the TVPA establishes
supported $150 million in programming to date.
that governments should prohibit severe forms of
•
trafficking in persons, punish acts of such trafficking
Other global research or training/assistance projects,
commensurate with the gravity and heinous nature of the
such as for emergency assistance to victims or short-
crime, and be making “serious and sustained efforts” to
term assistance to governments.
eliminate the problem. The TVPA further identifies criteria
• Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnerships with
for what constitutes serious and sustained effort; Congress
Colombia, Ghana, Jamaica, Mongolia, Peru, the
has modified and expanded these criteria over time.
Philippines, and Côte d’Ivoire. CPCs are negotiated
bilateral partnerships to combat child trafficking.
What is at stake in the rankings?
As a general matter, foreign governments may wish to
How much funding has Congress
avoid being publicly identified by the United States as
appropriated?
failing to take adequate steps to combat human trafficking.
The Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related
Additionally, the TVPA establishes restrictions on certain
Programs Appropriations Act for FY2023 (SFOPS;
types of U.S. foreign aid (nonhumanitarian, nontrade-
Division K of P.L. 117-328) and the accompanying
related) and other assistance to the governments of Tier 3
explanatory statement directed a total of $133.4 million in
countries, although the President is authorized to waive, in
State Department and foreign aid funding to combat human
part or in full, such restrictions. Each year, these decisions
trafficking internationally. This compares with $123.4
are issued in a presidential determination (see Table 1).
million directed for such purposes in FY2022 SFOPS. The
$133.4 million for FY2023 comprised $17 million directed
Table 1. Tier 3 Countries and Restrictions
to support TIP Office personnel and administrative costs
(2023 TIP Report)
with Diplomatic Programs (DP) funds and $116.4 million
Restricted
Partially Waived
Fully Waived
in foreign aid for anti-trafficking programs. Of the latter
Burma, China,
Afghanistan, Belarus,
Algeria, Cambodia,
figure, $87 million was directed for the International
Cuba, North
Chad, Curacao,a
Djibouti, Papua
Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) account
Korea, Iran,
Equatorial Guinea,
New Guinea,
managed by the State Department, including $12.5 million
Nicaragua, Syria Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Turkmenistan,
for Child Protection Compacts. Other specific directives
Macau (China), Russia, Venezuela
included $10 million in INCLE monies for DNA forensic
South Sudan, St.
technology programs to combat human trafficking in
Maartena
Central America and Mexico, $2 million in Economic
Source: 88 Federal Register 73523.
Support Fund (ESF) monies for “West Africa anti-slavery
a.
programs,” and $2 million to address human trafficking
The 2023 TIP Report states that these “semi-autonomous
entit[ies] within the Kingdom of the Netherlands” are not
along the northern border in Laos.
“countr[ies]” to which the TVPA’s minimum standards apply,
When was the TVPA last reauthorized?
and the presidential determination does not describe the aid
restrictions to them as being required by the TVPA.
P.L. 115-425, enacted in January 2019, in part authorized
annual appropriations for international anti-trafficking
What international grant programs
activities through FY2021. (Subsequently, some elements
address human trafficking?
of the TVPA pertaining to domestic anti-trafficking efforts
were reauthorized in January 2023, but these
The U.S. government funds a range of anti-trafficking
reauthorizations did not address international activities.) In
projects. The TIP Office oversees a substantial portion of
the 118th Congress, S. 920 and H.R. 5856 would reauthorize
these, although other State offices and U.S. agencies—
international activities at differing levels of increased
including the U.S. Agency for International Development—
appropriations through FY2027 or FY2028, respectively;
also oversee relevant projects. According to the State
amend some international elements of the TVPA; and enact
Department, as of November 1, 2023, the TIP Office was
other relevant changes in law.
managing 113 anti-trafficking projects in 105 countries
worth more than $248 million. These projects can be
implemented by U.S. and foreign nonprofit organizations,
Michael A. Weber, Analyst in Foreign Affairs
educational institutions, public international organizations,
IF10587
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Human Trafficking and U.S. Foreign Policy: An Introduction
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