This article is co-authored Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, Director of the China-Indonesia Desk at CELIOS, and Yeta Purnama, a researcher at the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS).

The potential U.S. decision to block nickel imports from Indonesia over concerns about forced labor brings to the forefront a critical issue often obscured in the broader narrative of global trade: the exploitation of workers, particularly Chinese laborers in Indonesian smelters. While the move signals a commitment to human rights, it also raises important questions about the complexities of supply chains, international labor practices, and the ethical implications of resource extraction in developing nations.