Abstract

The United States has a special interest in human rights, not only in the human rights of the United States, but also in the human rights of other countries. In particular, the Americans, have shown a very sensitive response against forced labor. Since the enactment of the McKinley Act of 1890, which prohibited the importation of products made by prison labor, the United States has made efforts to protect the human rights of the people in trading partner countries by linking trade with Jackson-Vanik Amendment, which expressly conditions the granting of Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) status by the United States to non-market economies on their emigration laws. In practice, however, the Amendment has been construed by some U.S. law-makers to mandate a broader reading, to encompass general human rights beyond the free effort to protect and improve human rights around the world. However, the idea that the U.S. will grant the MFN status, which at the core lies the principle of non-discrimination, in order to achieve a certain purpose in undoubtedly contrary to free trade, and will form the starting point of criticism of this paper. In addition, this paper will delve into the requirements of this law and point out the problems contained in the Jackson-Vanik Amendment.