[ad_1]
WASHINGTON: U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have prepared orders to block imports of cotton and tomato products from the Xinjiang region of western China on allegations that they are produced with forced labor, although it has been delayed a formal announcement.
The announcement of the Trump administration’s actions, initially scheduled for Tuesday (September 8), was postponed until the end of this week due to “scheduling problems,” a Customs and Border Protection spokesman said.
The cotton and tomato bans, along with five other import bans for alleged forced labor abuses in Xinjiang, would be an unprecedented move by Customs and Border Protection and would likely stoke tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
“Withholding of Release Orders” allow Customs and Border Protection to stop shipments based on suspicions of involvement in forced labor under long-standing US laws aimed at combating human trafficking, child labor and other abuses. against human rights.
President Donald Trump’s administration is increasing pressure on China over its treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. The United Nations has said it has credible reports that 1 million Muslims have been detained in camps in the region, where they are put to work.
LEE: US adds 11 companies to economic blacklist for China’s treatment of Uyghurs
China denies mistreatment of Uighurs, saying the camps are vocational training centers needed to fight extremism.
Deputy Executive Commissioner for Customs and Border Protection Brenda Smith told Reuters that effective import bans would apply to all supply chains involving cotton, including cotton yarn, textiles and clothing, as well as tomatoes, pasta tomato and other products exported from the region.
“We have reasonable, but inconclusive, evidence that there is a risk of forced labor in supply chains related to cotton textiles and tomatoes leaving Xinjiang,” Smith said in an interview. “We will continue to work our investigations to fill those gaps.”
US law requires the agency to stop shipments when there is a report of forced labor, such as from non-governmental organizations, he said.
The bans could have far-reaching effects for U.S. clothing retailers and producers, as well as food manufacturers. China produces about 20 percent of the world’s cotton, with most of it coming from Xinjiang. China is also the world’s largest cotton importer, including from the United States.
The China Cotton Association, a trade body, declined to comment on Wednesday.
A Beijing-based cotton trader said the impact may be limited as China brings in around 2 million tons of cotton and 2 million tons of cotton yarn from abroad each year, which may be enough to produce textiles. for the United States. Xinjiang’s production is about 5 million tons.
“If Xinjiang cotton is destined for domestic industry and non-Western markets, the impact may be limited, it can probably still be digested,” he said.
In the short term, it could also boost cotton imports into China, he added.
“ABUSIVE LIVING AND WORKING CONDITIONS”
In March, US lawmakers proposed legislation that would effectively assume that all goods produced in Xinjiang are made with forced labor and require a certification that they are not.
In July, Washington issued an advisory saying that companies doing business in Xinjiang or with entities that use labor in Xinjiang could be exposed to “legal, economic and reputational risks.”
The State Department also said it sent a letter to major US companies, including Walmart, Apple and Amazon, warning them of the risks they face in maintaining supply chains associated with human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region.
In a draft announcement seen by Reuters, Customs and Border Protection said it identified indicators of forced labor involving the cotton, textile and tomato supply chains “including debt bondage, unfree movement, isolation, intimidation and threats, retention of Abusive wages and work and living conditions. “
The agency’s orders would block cotton produced by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and clothing produced by Yili Zhuowan Garment Manufacturing and Baoding LYSZD Trade and Business. It says these entities use prison labor from “re-education” internment camps run by the Chinese government.
Additionally, the proposed orders would block imports of products manufactured in the Lop County Industrial Park, as well as the Lop County Vocational Skills Education and Training Center No. 4. The measures follow the July 1 arrest of hair extensions and other Lop County Meixin Hair Product.
Customs and Border Protection orders would also block imports of computer parts made by Hefei Bitland Information Technology, based in Anhui, China.
