The Chinese government forcibly relocates Uyghur men and women away from their homes and existing jobs to cotton fields. Apple lists both . Please immediately end any sourcing from companies complicit in using forced labor, and discontinue any business relations with them. Two top congressional Democrats, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., urged players to drop endorsement deals with Chinese sportswear companies that use cotton from Xinjiang . I am a journalist writing about China manufacturing and trade. Most fashion brands can't promise their products aren't implicated, with concern spreading from fast-fashion and sportswear giants to major luxury groups. DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations. Among the required elements of the Task Force Strategy Report are lists of entities meeting the characteristics outlined at Section 2(d)(2)(B) of the UFLPA at (i), (ii), (iv) and (v). Amazon is allegedly employing suppliers in China with links to forced labor, according to a report from the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a research group owned by the nonprofit watchdog organization Campaign for Accountability (via NBC News). Xinjiang Junggar Cotton and Linen Co., Ltd. Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (including three aliases: XPCC; Xinjiang Corps; and Bingtuan) and its subordinate and affiliated entities, Aksu Huafu Textiles Co. (including two aliases: Akesu Huafu and Aksu Huafu Dyed Melange Yarn), Hefei Bitland Information Technology Co., Ltd. (including three aliases: Anhui Hefei Baolongda Information Technology; Hefei Baolongda Information Technology Co., Ltd.; and Hefei Bitland Optoelectronic Technology Co., Ltd.), Hefei Meiling Co. Ltd. (including one alias: Hefei Meiling Group Holdings Limited), KTK Group (including three aliases: Jiangsu Jinchuang Group; Jiangsu Jinchuang Holding Group; and KTK Holding). It is a deep concern that I have learned Nike is a recipient of Chinese products manufactured using enslaved labor by forced transfer of Uyghur workers from East Turkestan (Xinjiang) to labor camps in different parts of the country. Baoding LYSZD Trade and Business Co., Ltd. Changji Esquel Textile Co. Ltd. (and one alias : Changji Yida Textile), Hetian Haolin Hair Accessories Co. Ltd. (and two aliases: Hotan Haolin Hair Accessories; and Hollin Hair Accessories), Hetian Taida Apparel Co., Ltd (and one alias: Hetian TEDA Garment), Hoshine Silicon Industry (Shanshan) Co., Ltd (including one alias: Hesheng Silicon Industry (Shanshan) Co.) and subsidiaries, Xinjiang Daqo New Energy, Co. Ltd (including three aliases: Xinjiang Great New Energy Co., Ltd.; Xinjiang Daxin Energy Co., Ltd.; and Xinjiang Daqin Energy Co., Ltd.), Xinjiang East Hope Nonferrous Metals Co. Ltd. (including one alias: Xinjiang Nonferrous), Xinjiang GCL New Energy Material Technology, Co. Ltd (including one alias: Xinjiang GCL New Energy Materials Technology Co.). / Sign up for Verge Deals to get deals on products we've tested sent to your inbox daily. Major international clothing brands like L.L. Preparing for June 21, 2022 (See here.) Share this article with your friends, and let them know which companies to avoid as well. Apple, which has saidthat it is committed to donating to organizations that challenge racial injustice and mass incarceration, is not the only company to come under scrutiny for its links to slave labor. "Apple has zero tolerance for forced labor," Rosenstock said. Any dollar that goes to these brands is a dollar that goes into the factories profiting off of Uyghur forced labor. The paper also described government incentives such as tax breaks and subsidies for Chinese companies to take Uighurs. The UFLPA also requires the interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, chaired by the Secretary of Homeland Security, and in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and Director of National Intelligence, to develop and submit to Congress a strategy for supporting CBPs enforcement of Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 with respect to goods, wares, articles, and merchandise produced with forced labor in the Peoples Republic of China. As we made clear during this months G7 summit, the United States is committed to employing all of its tools, including export controls, to ensure that global supply chains are free from the use of forced labor and technology is not misused to abuse human rights, said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. You may opt-out by. CBP guidance for XUAR WROs, and standards like the ILO Indicators of Forced Labor can provide reference points. As for population statistics, China lists Xinjiang's population at 24.5 million, including 12 million Uyghurs and 11 million Chinese as well as one million Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Huai, and other ethnic. On the Red Carpet at the 2022 Met Gala . An official website of the United States government. The companies were listed over human rights violations and abuses of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, according to a US government filing on Wednesday. DHS issued a Notice Seeking Public Comments in the Federal Register on January 24, 2022 on methods to prevent the importation of goods produced using forced labor from the People's Republic of China, specifically from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Here, they are paid at most 15 cents a day to pick cotton. We take allegations of human rights abuses seriously, including those related to the use or export of forced labor. Chinas population of Uyghurs, the countrys Muslim ethnic minority, is largely concentrated in the Xinjiang region of China. We will continue doing all we can to protect workers and ensure they are treated with dignity and respect, the spokesperson said. Washington - Human rights activists, labor leaders and others urged the White House on Friday to put its weight behind a coming ban on products made with forced labor in the . Lop County Meixin Hair Products Co., Ltd. Nanjing Synergy Textiles Co., Ltd. (including two aliases: Nanjing Xinyi Cotton Textile Printing and Dyeing; and Nanjing Xinyi Cotton Textile), No. Photo Uyghur Muslims by the Uyghur Human Rights Project. The latest report titled Uyghurs For Sale, from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, reveals a vast network of companies complicit in the mass detention of Uyghurs and other Turkic people. This report estimates that more than 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred out of Xinjiang to work in factories across China between 2017 and 2019, and some of them were sent directly from detention camps, a summary of the report said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Issues Withhold Release Order (WRO): CBP has issued a WRO on silica-based products made by Hoshine Silicon Industry Co., Ltd., a company located in . Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. (LockA locked padlock) In addition to alleging Amazons use of suppliers connected to forced labor, the TTP also found a number of accounts selling Xinjiang-sourced cotton, the sale of which has been banned by the US government last year. Hefei Bitland Information Technology Co. Ltd. Hoshine Silicon Industry (Shanshan) Co., Ltd., and Subsidiaries. WASHINGTON Effective January 13 at all U.S. ports of entry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will detain cotton products and tomato products produced in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. LockA locked padlock One of the suppliers operated in Xinjiang, the region of China predominantly populated by Uyghurs and where the most egregious human rights violations have reportedly taken place. Thus far, the U.S. government has deployed Withhold Release Orders (WROs), export control restrictions pursuant to the Entity List, and sanctions designations under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which have targeted several large Chinese companies including the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), as well as categories of products. It will place new requirements on a wide range of industries that rely on labor from Xinjiang, especially apparel, automotive, technology, food & beverage, and solar companies. DHSs New Criminal Enforcement Initiative to Prosecute Corporations for Forced Labor, Slavery in Supply Chains: CBP Petitions Raise New Forced Labor Compliance Risks, Recent DOJ Action Creates Uncertainty for Information-Sharing Programs, NLRB Invalidates Common Confidentiality and Non-Disparagement Clauses in Severance Agreements, U.S. Attorneys Offices Adopt New Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). The tech industry at large relies on suppliers in China, and The Information reports that these companies have also worked with Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Facebook, among others. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. In January 2021, CBP issued a region-wide ban on all XUAR-produced cotton and tomato products, irrespective of the associated company. In March 2020, a damning report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute revealed that the Chinese government was forcing hundreds of young Uyghur women to. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Sign up for Verge Deals to get deals on products we've tested sent to your inbox daily. The TTP found that three Amazon suppliers Luxshare Precision Industry, AcBel Polytech, and Lens Technology have reportedly used forced labor themselves. There are watchtowers with cameras pointed in all directions and high barbed wire fences atop the walls. That timeline will be exacerbated by the expected announcement of additional prohibited companies on June 21, and the potential delay until that day of guidance from CBP on standards to demonstrate that imports are not connected to forced labor. Some Uighurs have allegedly been placed in these factories straight from the internment camps in Xinjiang, where experts estimate more than 1.5 million members of ethnic minorities are being held. This statute expands on those earlier efforts and is likely to impact a large number of U.S. companies, non-U.S. companies engaged in manufacturing or distribution in the United States, and other importers. LAIXI, CHINA - JANUARY 8, 2020: The fences along the side of the Qingdao Taekwang Shoes Co. factory [+] -- the side where the Uighur workers enter and exit, and live in dorms -- looks almost like a prison. Entities identified in sections (i) and (ii) above may serve as both manufactures and exporters. Apple said it looks for forced labor as part of every assessment it conducts. -- the side where the Uighur workers enter and exit, and live in dorms -- looks almost like a prison. On December 23, 2021, President Biden signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) to prevent goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China from entering the U.S. market. In anticipation of the rebuttable presumption becoming effective on June 21, 2022, an implementation strategy and guidance for the trade community will be issued to ensure compliance with the Act. This cotton is then exported around the world. ), Chinas forced work programs have been getting more attention over the past year, with new reports speaking to the growing scope of Chinas oppressive practices in Xinjiang. The companies that broker this Uighur labor advertise that the workers are used to working in adversity, that they will stay the length of the contract. This page was not helpful because the content, Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with Forced Labor in the Peoples Republic of China, Notice on the Addition of Entities to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 currently prohibits the importation of all goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part in any foreign country by forced labor. Under 19 U.S.C. Primark uses sweatshops to make very low-price clothing. Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State June 21, 2022 Starting today, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will begin to implement the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act's provisions to prohibit imports made by forced labor into the United States of products made in Xinjiang. These categories appear likely to include additional manufacturers and intermediate supply chain participants outside of the XUAR. A 2014 draft contract for Xinjiang laborers in Guangdong province obtained by the AP shows the government there offered companies 3000 RMB ($428.52) per worker, with an additional 1000 RMB ($142.84) for "training" each . Workers can be jailed for refusing to join the work programs, the report says, and those enrolled in the programs are often moved far from their homes. Dont turn your back on racism. To directly support Save Uyghurs campaign to safeguard fundamental human rights, donate to our cause now. Following a public comment period, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force will describe how companies can adequately demonstrate that their imports originating from China are not made with forced labor. For the most up-to-date information on CBPs UFLPA implementation, please see our website at https://www.cbp.gov/trade/forced-labor/UFLPA. / Sign up for Verge Deals to get deals on products we've tested sent to your inbox daily. While some industries may have experience with conflict minerals, blood diamonds or child labor, not all compliance and ethics programs are designed to look at supply chain risks. Any violation of our policies has immediate consequences, including possible business termination. They are grouped into different categories and listed below. The UFLPA reflects an expansion of U.S. policy efforts over the past two years to address reported violations of human rights in the XUAR. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS Most companies will require advance planning to assess the risks posed by the UFLPA and develop the compliance and due diligence mechanisms that will be needed to monitor supply chains and commercial partners. Persons wishing to import affected products to the United States will need to supply evidence demonstrating that those products were not made with forced labor, and meet pending compliance standards. Xinjiang workers have also been placed in factories that are part of Apples supply chains, including a plant in Guangzhou visited by Apple CEO Tim Cook in December 2017. Working with two human rights groups, the publication identified seven companies that supplied. The 83 foreign and Chinese companies that ASPI has identified as directly or indirectly benefiting from the potentially abusive transfer programs for Uighurs include clothing brands such as Adidas, Gap, Tommy Hilfiger and Uniqlo; carmakers such as BMW, General Motors, Jaguar and Mercedes Benz; and tech giants such as Apple, Google, Huawei and Microsoft. U.S. officials said the Labor Department had seen a nearly 70% increase in child labor violations since 2018, including in hazardous occupations. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. The law places the burden of proof on companies to demonstrate that any imports mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Regionor involving entities exporting labor from Xinjiangwere not made using forced labor. Written by USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel. The year 2021 brought supply chain challenges to the center of the national conversation. Earlier this year, Tesla faced criticism for opening a showroom in the Xinjiang region and was also mentioned as an alleged customer of the aforementioned Lens Technology company in the TTP report from December 2020. Crypto company Gemini is having some trouble with fraud, Some Pixel phones are crashing after playing a certain YouTube video. BOE Technology Group, which supplies screens to Apple, and O-Film, which makes iPhone cameras, both use Uighur labor, either directly or through contractors, the report found. As of April 2021, the following global companies and brands are profiting from their use of modern day Uyghur slavery. Please be aware that this is CBPs importer guidance, which provides transparency to CBPs operational approach, and not the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Forces Strategy, which will provide additional importer guidance, required by the UFLPA. The list of well-recognized names includes Apple, Nike, Amazon, Samsung, Zara, H&M, Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz, Uniqlo, and more. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), hereafter referred to as the Act, was signed into law by President Biden on December 23, 2021. A lock Companies will need to comply with the law 180 days after its December 23, 2021 enactment. Those factories claim to be part of the supply chain of 83 well-known global brands., The Fair Labor Association has also written a statement calling to an end of all forced labor in East Turkestan: , The Fair Labor Association (FLA) is deeply troubled by credible reports of forced labor and other violations of fundamental human rights in the Xinjiang region of China. Several Apple suppliers may have used forced labor in China, according to The Information. Abercrombie & Fitch, Acer Adidas Alstom BAIC Motor BMW Bombardier Bosch BYD Calvin Klein Candy Carter's Cerruti 1881 Changan Automobile Cisco CRRC Electrolux Fila, Founder Group GAC Group (automobiles) Gap Geely Auto General Motors Goertek (See here.) As of April 2021, the following global companies and brands are profiting from their use of modern day Uyghur slavery. Two other companies, GoerTek and Hefei BOE Optoelectronics, are indirectly involved, and allegedly utilize suppliers that have been accused of using forced labor. Looking for the presence of forced labor is part of every supplier assessment we conduct, including surprise audits, spokesman Josh Rosenstock told Apple. July 21, 2022 July 20, 2022 RealClearWire. U.S. remote-control maker Universal Electronics Inc told Reuters it struck a deal with authorities in Xinjiang to transport hundreds of Uyghur workers to its plant in the southern Chinese city of . Since the release of the ASPIs report, numerous companies and brands have released statements regarding their connections to Uyghur forced labor, with some taking direct action to end their complicity in supply chains corrupted by modern day slavery. All work must be voluntary, and workers must be free to leave work and terminate their employment or other work status with reasonable notice.. BuzzFeed News reported finding more than 100 detention facilities located beside factories. All the companies that responded said they required suppliers to follow strict labor . Withhold Release Orders and Findings List, Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, Best Practices for Applicability Reviews: Importer Responsibilities, Guidance on Executive Summaries and Sample Tables of Contents, https://www.cbp.gov/trade/forced-labor/UFLPA, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). Apple and Amazon arent the only US-based companies with ties to Xinjiang and forced labor, either. For further inquiries, please contact the UFLPA Entity List Team atFLETF.UFLPA.EntityList@hq.dhs.gov. Our government should tax these company at above the money they are saving by using known slave labor. These workers were transferred from labor camps in the Xinjiang region of western China, WaPo reported. 83 global companies and brands are directly or indirectly benefiting from the use of Uyghur forced laborers in these factories. Primark has been involved in child labor and modern slavery scandals before. Crypto company Gemini is having some trouble with fraud, Some Pixel phones are crashing after playing a certain YouTube video. Forced labor has been a central part of China's campaign against the Uighurs for as long as I can remember. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 83 global companies and brands are directly or indirectly benefiting from the use of Uyghur forced laborers in these factories. WROs on materials like cotton (where an estimated 20 percent of world supply and 85 percent of Chinese supply is from the XUAR) and polysilicon (a key material in solar panels and the photovoltaic supply chain) reportedly are causing CBP to block broad categories of certain products incorporating those materials. However, existing CBP guidance for WROs indicates a demanding standard for documentation and tracing. Coca-Cola has frequently advocated against racism and discrimination in the U.S. The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added five Chinese entities to the Entity List for accepting or utilizing forced labor in the implementation ofthePeoples Republic ofChinas campaign of repression against Muslimminority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region(XUAR). A Chinese-dominated mining company has procured millions of dollars in American subsidies to extract lithium in the United States - but, given a dearth of U.S. processing capacity, the mineral is likely to be sent to China with no guarantee that the end product would return as . The UFLPA Entity List can be found in the Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with Forced Labor in the People's Republic of China and the Federal Register Notice on the Addition of Entities to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. In one case, a batch of graduates from a so-called vocational training center in south Xinjiang were transferred directly to a factory in the eastern Anhui province, according to a government report. Six of the seven suppliers were said to participate in work programs operated by the Chinese government, The Information reports, which human rights groups describe as frequently offering cover for forced labor. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) was signed into law by President Biden on December 23, 2021. Some brands including Adidas, Bosch and Panasonic told ASPI they had no direct contractual relationships with the suppliers indicated in the report, but no one could rule out a link further down their supply chain. ChatGPT Swears It Can Optimize Your Inventory. The Task Force Strategy Report will identify a list of high-priority sectors for enforcement, which at a minimum must include cotton, tomatoes and polysilicon. The factory, Haoyuanpeng Clothing Manufacturing Co. Ltd, lists Fila, Adidas, Puma and Nike among its clients. Several Apple suppliers may have used forced labor in China, according to The Information. Additional license requirements apply to exports, re-exports, and transfers (in-country) of items subject to the EAR to listed entities, and the availability of most license exceptions is limited. Chinese parents who have more than a few children are often sent to detention camps or subjected to huge fines, the publication found, and police instill terror into families by raiding homes searching for hidden children. In a spring 2020 report report titledUyghurs For Sale, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute found that at least 83 popular, household-name brands are potentially directly or indirectly benefiting from the use of Uyghur workers outside Xinjiang through abusive labour transfer programs as recently as 2019.. Byler said the Chinese government's use of forced labor in the Xinjiang region has long been established, but has stepped up since 2017, when the most recent crackdown on Uighurs began. It is incumbent upon you as an importer to apply due diligence, effective supply chain tracing, and supply chain management measures to ensure that such imports are free from any goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor from the Peoples Republic of China, especially from the XUAR. In January, the Trump administration said China was committed genocide against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang.. These legal developments also dovetail with broader ESG and corporate responsibility trends. Companies in the labor transfer program are often in labor-intensive industries, so they asked: is the growing and labor-intensive P.P.E. The laws rebuttable presumption means companies whose supply chains touch Xinjiangor utilize Xinjiang-exported laborwill have to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that their products are free of forced labor. In June remarks, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincysaidhe was outraged, sad, frustrated, angry over the death of George Floyd and promised that the company stands with those seeking justice and equality., Nike has also spoken out against racism in the U.S., particularly in a May 2020 ad thaturged viewersFor once, dont do it. Apple spokesman Josh Rosenstock said the company has confirmed that Lens Technology has not received any labor transfers of Uighur workers from Xinjiang. report from the Tech Transparency Project, including internment camps, constant surveillance, mass sterilization, and forced labor, Tesla faced criticism for opening a showroom in the Xinjiang region, Mark Zuckerberg says Meta now has a team building AI tools and personas, Whoops! The programs target the countrys Muslim minority population, particularly Uyghurs living in Xinjiang. Rebutting the Forced Labor Presumption Do not buy products made with the tears of modern-day Uyghur slaves. A number of companies and brands have been linked to labor forced on Uighur Muslims by the Chinese government, according to multiple reports. Over several years, the group has been subject to a number of human rights abuses within the country, including internment camps, constant surveillance, mass sterilization, and forced labor. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. (Washington, DC) - The United States government should vigorously enforce a new law that aims to prevent imports linked to forced labor by Uyghurs and other persecuted groups in China, Human . Companies doing business in China, especially those with supply chain touchpoints in Xinjiang, should consider how the new law will affect them. Fila LL Bean Hugo Boss Lacoste Li-Ning The North Face Skechers Tommy Hilfiger Victoria's Secret Zara Zegna Anta Jansport Clothing Brands Versace Jimmy Choo Michael Kors Chanel Costco Hanes Hermes Gucci Balenciaga Yves Saint Laurent The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) was signed into law by President Biden on December 23, 2021. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. Specifically, this will include: (i) a list of entities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region that mine, produce, or manufacture wholly or in part any goods, wares, articles and merchandise with forced labor; (ii) a list of entities working with the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or receive forced labor or Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz or members of other persecuted groups out of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; (iv) a list of entities that exported products described in clause (iii) from the Peoples Republic of China into the United States [being products mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part by entities on the list required by clause (i) or (ii)]; (v) a list of facilities and entities that source material from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or from persons working with the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for purposes of government labor scheme that uses forced labor. In March 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) published a report titled Uyghurs For Sale, which revealed a vast network of companies complicit in the use of Uyghur forced labor throughout China. As your company has previously imported merchandise from locations or entities potentially subject to the Act, you are being notified that subsequent entries of such merchandise may result in, among other things, suspension or removal from the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) program, seizure, forfeiture and/or penalties, or other appropriate action under the customs laws. The list of 83 companies includes over 30 technology brands "directly or indirectly benefiting" from using Uighur workers a veritable who's who of consumer electronics, such as Acer,.

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