Vice President Joe Biden has banned imports from three more Chinese companies as part of his war on Uyghur forced labor in the US supply chain.
Chinese Government Pressures Uyghurs
Since 2017, Beijing has imprisoned almost one million Uyghur Muslims in concentration camps in the northern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, according to the US. UN Human Rights Council made this claim. The US claims that Uyghurs are arbitrarily imprisoned, sterilized, tortured, and made to work under harsh religious, expression, and mobility restrictions. China denies the accusations and says Uyghurs are in re-education camps to combat extremism. China says the Uyghurs are kept to combat radicalism.
According to a Friday Congressional Research Service report, the Chinese government pressures Uyghurs to work in labor-intensive industries such as textiles, apparel, agriculture, consumer goods, and electronics. Prison and severe punishments await Uyghurs who refuse to work in these businesses. On Wednesday, Xinjiang Zhongtai Group, Tianshan Wool Textile, and Tianmian Foundation Textile products would no longer be imported into the US.
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Uyghur Forced Labor
Since the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act was brought into action by President Joe Biden in December 2021, the United States has placed restrictions on imports from 27 different countries. These restrictions prevent the importation of goods that were produced in the region of Xinjiang or by specific companies. Since the law went into effect in June 2022, records provided by the Department of Homeland Security indicate that CBP inspectors have reviewed a total of 5,346 shipments with a combined value of more than $1.8 billion; of these, 2,325 shipments were found to violate the statute.
According to the research from the Congressional Research Service (CRS), from 2019 to 2021, the United States Customs and Border Protection prevented the importation of commodities that were suspected to have been produced using forced labor in Xinjiang. In addition, the United States has taken action to impose sanctions on Chinese officials who are believed to be involved in the violations of human rights that have been carried out against Uyghur nationals.
The move that was taken on Tuesday follows a decision made by the Biden administration in early August to restrict the importation of two companies based in China.
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