President Biden's announcement not to seek reelection affords a useful point of reflection on his administration's business and human rights achievements. Four years ago, many expected his administration to aggressively seek to advance business and human rights in the U.S. and globally. Common predictions included enhanced measures toward China, climate change initiatives, ample use of sanctions, human trafficking and worker's rights actions, and multilateral engagements to address global business and human rights challenges. Given high levels of partisanship in Congress, most were appropriately skeptical of the administration's ability to drive major human rights legislation, particularly compared to the flurry of European Union initiatives mandating human rights due diligence, sustainability reporting, and other measures.

While six months still remain for the Biden White House, the administration's business and human rights accomplishments have largely matched expectations. On a high level, there were a few limited legislative accomplishments, while. the register of Executive Agency and regulatory initiatives is more comprehensive. The administration has pursued a whole-of-government approach, with numerous government agencies and interagency task forces taking action across a range of issues. These have included devoting resources to enforcing existing laws, numerous tools and guidances, and marshaling the support of other democracies. The list below reflects some of the most visible initiatives on a thematic level, but reflects only a fraction of the steps that the administration has taken since Biden's January 2021 inauguration.

  • UFLPA: In December 2021, the President signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The bipartisan law – initially proposed during the Trump Administration – presumptively prohibits goods from being imported. if they are produced wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, through labor pairing or poverty alleviation programs in China, or by companies on a government-generated Entity List. More than 9000 shipments, valued at some $3.5 billion, have been detained under the law. 
  • Climate: President Biden ran for office on an ambitious climate action platform. During his tenure, he signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, comprehensive climate change legislation that invests hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy, electric vehicles, environmental justice and other areas, and The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which also contains expansive climate-related steps, including to remove and permanently sequester carbon dioxide through natural and technological means, invest in clean energy infrastructure, and fund new clean energy programs. Other key achievements include: setting a target to cut emissions by at least 50% by 2030; tackling super pollutants like hydroflourocarbons and methane through regulation, a national Methane Action Plan, and other steps; pursuing measures to reduce or eliminate emissions for passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses; ramping up electricity standards and setting appliance and equipment standards to replace fossil fuels with electricity; and setting emission performance standards for cement, steel, and plastics. Not all of the Administration's efforts were successful; the SEC's March 2024 climate disclosure rule was almost immediately stayed pending the bevy of litigation challenging the rule.
  • Workers Rights: Another focus area surrounded workers rights, largely accomplished though a suite of Executive Orders. Among the most significant is an expansive November 2023 Memorandum to the heads of all executive branch agencies, ordering a wide range of actions aimed at strengthening labor protections for workers around the world. Another significant Executive Order, from March 2024, creates labor-management forums at federal agencies, holding agencies accountable for implementing previous directives, such as Executive Order 14003, directing agencies to bargain over so-called "permissive subjects" (e.g., the "numbers, types and grades" of employees assigned and over the "methods, means and technology" of performing the work). Other orders include requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to inform employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act, increasing minimum wage for contract workers, creating a multi-agency task force to encourage labor organizing, and mandating union agreements for federal construction projects. The Department of Labor also has substantially increased its child labor investigations, and the Administration has created an interagency task force to combat child labor exploitation.
  • Weaponry: In 2023, the Department of Defense amended Directive 3000.09 to include greater human rights due diligence associated with autonomous weapons systems. Shortly thereafter, the State Department issued a Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy that echoed the Directive's primary themes, and called on other States to take similar measures. These corresponded to Executive Order on the U.S. Conventional Arms Transfer Policy, NSM-18, emphasizing the importance of human rights and international humanitarian law as considerations for decisions on potential arms transfers, lowering the burden for withholding approval for arms transfers, instructing decisionmakers to consider due diligence about the recipient, and noting that the U.S. will monitor the use of arms transfers.
  • Commerce & Sanctions: In March 2023, the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) adopted three measures: (1) guidance, in the form of FAQs, expressly directing companies to conduct human rights due diligence in connection with export license applications for technology and dual-use transfers, stating that human rights concerns will be a factor in decisions; (2) publishing a final rule (15 CFR 744) amending the Export Administration Regulations to "confirm that the foreign policy interest of protecting human rights worldwide is a basis for adding entities to the Entity List"; and (3) with the State Department, unveiling a new voluntary Code of Conduct with 23 other subscribing countries outlining a commitment to consider human rights when reviewing export applications of dual-use goods, software, and technologies. Dozens of companies or agencies also have been added to the BIS Entity List for human rights risks and over the last four years, and the administration has designated more than 450 people for Global Magnistky sanctions, nearly tripling the total number, targeting those engaged in serious human rights abuse, corrupt actors, and their enablers.
  • AI & Technology: Anticipating the human rights challenges of global technology, the Administration announced a five principle Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, issued an executive order establishing new standards for AI safety and security, established principles for applying AI in the workplace, and created rules regarding how government agencies may use AI consistent with a respect for rights. The Labor Department issued new principles for AI and worker well-being. The State Department issued a broad Risk Management Profile for AI and Human Rights, a practical guide for organizations to design, develop and deploy AI in a manner consistent with human rights, and a Democratic Roadmap to address information manipulation while avoiding undermining freedom of expression. The administration also issued executive orders limiting government use of commercial spyware, drove a coalition of governments in taking steps to counter the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware, helped spearhead Guiding Principles on Government Use of Surveillance technologies adopted by 45 countries, and took a variety of actions against individuals and entities associated with spyware technologies.
  • NAP: After an extensive multi-year consultation, in March 2024, the government issued its second National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct, a lengthy and specific document reflecting the government's commitments to strengthen and improve respect for human rights. The NAP emphasizes human rights due diligence and includes four areas of focus for the government to promote and incentivize responsible business conduct – establishing a Federal Advisory Committee on Responsible Business Conduct, strengthening human rights in federal procurement, enhancing access to remedy, and providing business resources. It includes forward-looking commitments from 14 federal agencies plus other interagency working groups. In particular, it looks to strengthen the US National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises in a variety of ways.
  • Tools: The government adopted a variety of guidances and tools to assist businesses in meeting their responsibilities to respect human rights, and government agencies in protecting human rights. For instance, the Labor Department adopted Comply Chain, a detailed tool to help companies mitigate forced and child labor risks. The State Department recently issued its thorough and practical Guidance for Online Platforms in protecting human rights defenders, and Guidelines for U.S. Diplomatic Missions in supporting civil society and human rights defenders.
  • Global Leadership: The administration began hosting summits for democracy, a multi-stakeholder forum involving over 100 partner governments, business leaders, civil society, and other organizations to build more resilient democracies. One of the key pillars in each of the summits has been advancing the respect for and protection of human rights. In conjunction with the summits, the U.S. government and other participating governments have announced different human rights initiatives. For instance, the 2021 summit included the announcement of a Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal, a set of policy and foreign assistance initiatives to bolster democracy and defend human rights globally. Further, central in the last few years have been broad calls to the private sector to advance democracy, encouraging specific company initiatives to respect human rights, leading to a wide range of company commitments.

Mindful that 6 months remains for this administration, its catalog of business and human rights achievements – and the above represents a small sampling of what has been pursued – already is extensive. While the list of groundbreaking legislation cannot match the sweeping laws adopted in the EU, perhaps limiting the durability of the efforts, the administration has pursued initiatives consistent with its stated priorities four years ago, pushing through several major new laws and maximizing the discretionary tools available to it. Of course, the results in November will probably impact greatly what is rolled back and what is expanded. But the ambition and energy of the Biden Administration in advancing business and human rights largely has matched its high hopes four years ago.