In another crackdown on China, the United States banned cotton, hair products, computer components and some textiles from China’s Xinjiang province that are made “using forced labor.”
“By taking this action, DHS is fighting illegal and inhuman forced labor, a type of modern day slavery, used to make goods that the Chinese government then tries to import into the United States. When China tries to import these products into our supply chains, it also puts American workers and businesses at a disadvantage, ”said Acting Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Ken Cuccinelli.
“President Trump and this Department have, and always will, put American workers and businesses first and protect American citizens from participating in these egregious human rights violations,” Cuccinelli said.
“The Trump Administration will not sit idly by and allow foreign companies to subject vulnerable workers to forced labor while harming American companies that respect human rights and the rule of law,” said Acting CBP Commissioner Mark A. Morgan.
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“Today’s detainment orders send a clear message to the international community that we will not tolerate illegal, inhumane and exploitative practices of forced labor in America’s supply chains.”
The list of Release Retention Orders (WROs) issued by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) includes products made with labor from the County Center for Vocational Skills Education and Training No. 4. Lop, hair products manufactured in the Lop County Hair Products Industrial Park; clothing produced by Yili Zhuowan Garment Manufacturing Co. and Baoding LYSZD Trade and Business Co .; cotton produced and processed by Xinjiang Junggar Cotton and Linen Co. in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.
Additionally, computer parts manufactured by Hefei Bitland Information Technology Co. in Anhui have also been banned because “Hefei Bitland uses both prison and forced labor to produce electronic products.”
“The series of actions that CBP has taken against imports from China demonstrates the widespread use of unethical and inhumane working conditions in China, and CBP will not turn a blind eye,” said Brenda Smith, Executive Assistant Commissioner of the China Trade Office. CBP.
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“Allowing goods produced through forced labor to enter the US supply chain undermines the integrity of our imports. American consumers deserve and demand better, “added Smith.
This comes days after a bipartisan group of US senators asked Disney CEO Bob Chapek to explain the company’s cooperation with Chinese authorities in Xinjiang during the production of the live-action remake of “Mulan ”.
China has come under global criticism for cracking down on Uyghurs by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending community members to undergo some form of re-education or forced indoctrination. (AND ME)
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