On the backs of children: Why U.S. companies exploit foreign child labor and how to stop it

IN 2012, CALIFORNIA passed the groundbreaking California Transparency in Supply Chains Act requiring large retailers and manufacturers to disclose the risk of forced labor in their supply chains, but what about countless tragedies that child workers in American multinational corporations (MNCs) endure outside the U.S.?

American MNCs are among the most successful in the world. These companies’ supply chains are globally dispersed in geographic locations outside their home country. In 2022, roughly 92 percent of the total supplies of Apple, the second richest company by market cap as of February 2024, were imported from abroad. However, a strong financial performance and sound international image belie the darker ways in which these companies make money.