US restricts imports from three more Chinese companies tied to forced labor (updated)

Ruentex Industries

26/09/2023 14:22

(Adds Rubio statement in last two paragraphs)
    By Doina Chiacu and Karen Freifeld
       WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The United State
restricted goods from three more Chinese companies from entering
the United States on Tuesday as part of an effort to eliminate
goods made with the forced labor of Uyghur minorities from the
U.S. supply chain. 
    Xinjiang Tianmian Foundation Textile Co Ltd, Xinjiang
Tianshan Wool Textile Co. Ltd and Xinjiang Zhongtai Group Co.
Ltd were added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity
List, according to a government posting, bringing the total
number of entities on the list to 27.
    The three companies were designated as a result of their
business practices involving Uyghur minorities and other
persecuted groups, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said
in a statement.
    "We do not tolerate companies that use forced labor, that
abuse the human rights of individuals in order to make a
profit," Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said
in the statement.
    The three companies were designated for working with the
government of Xinjiang to recruit and transport, harbor or use
the forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of
other persecuted groups out of the region, the United States
said.
    Xinjiang Tianmian Foundation Textile Co makes yarn and other
textile products, the statement said. Xinjiang Zhongtai Group Co
produces and sells polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other textile,
chemical and building materials. Xinjiang Tianshan Wool Textile
Co sells cashmere and wool garments, among other products. All
three are based in Xinjiang.
    A 2021 law, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity
List (UFLPA), prohibits importation of goods into the United
States that are either produced in Xinjiang or by companies
identified on the list unless the importer can prove that the
goods were not produced with forced labor.
    U.S. officials believe Chinese authorities have established
labor camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in
China's western Xinjiang region. Beijing denies any abuses.
    The State Department later on Tuesday updated its business
advisory on the Xingjiang supply chain to call attention to
China's "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in
Xinjiang and the evidence of widespread use of forced labor
there."
    It stressed the urgency for businesses to take due diligence
measures, including identifying, assessing and acting on forced
labor and human rights risks for workers.
    Some Uyghur groups and activists have been frustrated by the
pace and quality of enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor
Prevention Act. Senator Marco Rubio, who helped introduce the
law, urged the Biden administration to add more companies to the
list.
        "There are potentially thousands of China-based
companies and entities complicit in slave labor," Rubio said in
a statement. "The slow pace emboldens those profiting from slave
labor."
  

 (Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Karen Freifeld; Editing by
Andrea Ricci, Ros Russell and Mark Porter)
 ((doina.chiacu@thomsonreuters.com; 202-898-8322;))