January 14, 2025
Biden administration adds 37 Chinese companies to forced labor list
The administration announced penalties on the largest group of companies ever linked to Xinjiang, including major suppliers of critical minerals and textiles.
Anna Swanson
The Biden administration announced Tuesday it would block imports from more than 30 Chinese companies due to ties to forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region.
The administration’s move is the largest addition ever to the list of companies whose products are banned from entering the United States over concerns about human rights violations.
This measure was taken based on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Law enacted in 2021, which allows the government to detain and monitor all or part of products manufactured in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in far western China. This prohibits the United States from importing products manufactured in Xinjiang, which is Number of ethnic minorities, including Uyghurs.
Although China denies the existence of forced labor in Xinjiang, the U.S. government has accused Beijing of using forced labor, mass detention, and other He said he was using coercion.
The 37 companies added on Tuesday to the special list created by the law include a subsidiary of Zijin Mining, a major supplier of critical minerals. The New York Times reported in 2022* that Zijin Mining has ties to Xinjiang’s labor relocation program.
The additions also include Huafu Fashion, one of the world’s largest textile manufacturers, and its 25 subsidiaries. It’s not clear which retailers Huafu currently supplies, but H&M previously said it had indirect ties with Huafu Fashion’s factories and would cut ties with them.
Companies in real estate, mining, solar power and cotton production were also added to the list. In total, they produced a list of 144 organizations.
* https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/20/business/economy/forced-labor-china-supply-chain.html
