According to the White House, ‘China’s forced labor practices are against our values as a nation and they link American consumers to unethical practices.’
US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (Joe Biden-Xi Jinping)
Recently, at the G7 summit held in Cornwall, Britain, the world’s major democracies showed solidarity against the ongoing forced labor in Xinjiang. These countries had committed to ensuring that global supply chains were free from the use of forced labor. On Tuesday, America has converted these commitments into action.
The US considers state-sponsored forced labor in Xinjiang as an insult to human dignity and an example of the PRC’s unfair economic practices. Forced labor perpetrated by the PRC in Xinjiang is an essential component of systematic atrocities against the Uighur community and other ethnic and religious minority groups, and taking action against these atrocities is a high priority for the Biden administration. Systematic atrocities include acts of sexual violence and mass detention of people in addition to forced labor, and the PRC continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.
America will not tolerate forced labor in the supply chain
The Biden administration is taking additional action to ensure that those involved in forced labor are held accountable. The Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor will take actions to remove forcibly labor-produced materials from their supply chains. These actions demonstrate America’s commitment to imposing additional costs on China (PRC) in exchange for engaging in cruel and inhumane forced labor practices and ensuring that Beijing adheres to the rules of fair trade as part of a rules-based international order. do.
The White House says that ‘China’s forced labor practices are contrary to our values as a nation and they link American consumers to unethical practices’. China makes it possible for its companies to have an edge over competitors by exploiting workers and keeping costs artificially low, allowing American businesses and workers to compete in an unfavorable environment. The White House said the US will not tolerate forced labor in its supply chain and will continue to act in the interests of its values and American workers and businesses.
CBP issued WRO
Due to this, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO). CBP has issued a WRO against silica-based products manufactured by Xinjiang-based venture Hoshine Silicon Industry Co., Ltd. and its subsidiaries. This WRO is based on information indicating sufficiently that Hoshine has used forced labor to manufacture silica-based products. As a result, officials at all US ports of entry have been instructed to immediately take possession of these materials, including silica-based products manufactured by Hoshine, or goods made or produced using those silica-based products.
CBP’s investigation into forced labor has led to six withhold release orders issued in fiscal year 2021, one against cotton and tomato products from the Xinjiang region, another against cotton products from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) and Another is against Dalian Ocean Fishing Co Ltd. The WRO against Dalian clearly shows that the United States is taking action to combat the PRC’s forced labor practices beyond Xinjiang, including in the seafood industry. Currently, 35 of the 49 active WROs are against materials originating from the PRC, 11 of which are against goods manufactured with the help of forced labor in Xinjiang.
US updates list of banned ventures
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security has included five PRC enterprises involved in the acceptance or use of forced labor practices in Xinjiang and contributing to human rights abuses against Uighurs and other minority groups in Xinjiang on its list of banned enterprises. These include Hoshine Silicon Industry (Shanshan), Xinjiang Daoko New Energy, Xinjiang East Hope Nonferrous Metal, Xinjiang GCL New Energy Material Technology and XPCC.
The actions, which are in addition to 48 PRC enterprises already on the list of banned undertakings related to human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Export Management Rules prohibit the export, re-export, or transfer into the home country of goods, software, and technology to which the enterprise is a party to the transaction (such as an end user, purchaser, or intermediate/end recipient).
‘List of goods produced by child labor or forced labor’ also updated
The US Department of Labor has updated the ‘List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor’ to include polysilicon produced by forced labor in the PRC through publication of a Federal Register notice. Every two years, the Department of Labor publishes an updated list of goods produced using child labor or forced labor in defiance of international standards.
This is the first time the list has been updated outside a two-year cycle to add a product, reflecting the department’s strong response to the seriousness of human rights abuses by Uighurs and other minority groups in Xinjiang. The report also includes other products currently in the PRC related to forced labor performed by Uyghur workers sent to Xinjiang or other parts of the PRC, including cotton, clothing, footwear, electronics, gloves, hair-related products , fabrics, yarn and tomato based products.
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