FACT SHEET: New US Government Measures Against Forced Labor in Xinjiang

At the recent G7 summit in Cornwall, UK, the world’s leading democracies united against forced labor, including in Xinjiang, and pledged to ensure that global supply chains do not resort to labor strength. The United States is translating these commitments into action. The Biden-Harris administration is taking further action to hold accountable those who engage in forced labor and ensure that we continue to remove goods made with forced labor from our supply chains through actions by the US Department of Customs Security and Border Protection, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor.

These actions demonstrate our commitment to impose additional costs on the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for engaging in cruel and inhuman forced labor practices and to ensure that Beijing abides by fair trade rules under the rules-based international order. The United States believes that the state-sponsored forced labor in Xinjiang is both an affront to human dignity and an example of the PRC’s unfair economic practices. The PRC’s use of forced labor in Xinjiang is an integral part of its systematic abuses against the Uyghur population and other minority ethnic and religious groups, and addressing such abuses will remain a high priority for the Biden-Harris administration. Systematic abuses go beyond forced labor to include sexual violence and large-scale forced detention, and the PRC continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.

The PRC’s forced labor practices run counter to our values ​​as a nation and expose American consumers to unethical practices. They are also letting American businesses and workers compete on a level playing field by allowing companies to gain an advantage over their competitors by exploiting workers and artificially suppressing wages. The United States will not tolerate forced labor in our supply chains and will continue to stand up for our values ​​and American workers and businesses. This includes continuing support for the development of transparent and diverse clean energy supply chains in the country, free from forced labor, and supporting President Biden’s commitment to bold climate action, from the industry. solar power and jobs created by this vital industry.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issues Detention Order (WRO): CBP has issued a WRO on silica-based products manufactured by Hoshine Silicon Industry Co., Ltd., a company located in Xinjiang, and its subsidiaries. This WRO is based on information that reasonably indicates that Hoshine used forced labor to make silica products. As a result, personnel at all U.S. ports of entry have been ordered to immediately begin detaining shipments containing silica products manufactured by Hoshine or materials and goods derived from or manufactured using these. silica-based products. CBP is investigating allegations of forced labor in U.S. supply chains and will continue to investigate allegations in the polysilicon industry and other industries in Xinjiang and elsewhere.

CBP’s forced labor investigations produced six stay orders in fiscal year 2021, including one on cotton and tomato products from the Xinjiang region, another on cotton products from the Xinjiang region. of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) and one on the Dalian Ocean Fishing. Co., Ltd. As the Dalian WRO demonstrated, the United States is also taking steps to address the PRC’s use of forced labor beyond Xinjiang, including in the seafood industry. Currently, 35 of the 49 Active WROs relate to goods from the PRC, and 11 WROs relate to goods made by forced labor from Xinjiang.

The Ministry of Commerce updates its list of entities: The Bureau of Industry and Security of the Ministry of Commerce has added five entities from the PRC to the list of entities: Hoshine Silicon Industry (Shanshan); New energy from Xinjiang Daqo; Xinjiang East Hope non-ferrous metals; Xinjiang GCL New Energy Material Technology and XPCC – for participating in the practice of, accepting or using forced labor in Xinjiang and contributing to human rights violations against Uyghurs and other minority groups in Xinjiang. This action, which follows the 48 PRC entities previously added to the list of entities for their links to human rights violations in Xinjiang, restricts the export, re-export or transfer to the country of products, software and technology subject to export administration regulations where these entities are parties to the transactions (eg, end user, purchaser, intermediate or end recipient).

The Ministry of Labor updates the “List of goods produced by child labor or forced labor”: The Ministry of Labor has issued a Federal Register notice updating its “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor” to include polysilicon produced with forced labor in the PRC. Every two years, the Ministry of Labor publishes an updated list of goods produced by child labor or forced labor in violation of international standards. This update is the first time that a property has been added outside of this two-year cycle, underscoring its strong response to the gravity of ongoing human rights violations against Uyghurs and other minority groups in Xinjiang. The report currently includes other products from the PRC that have links to forced labor in Xinjiang or by Uyghur workers transferred to other parts of the PRC, including cotton, clothing, shoes, electronics, gloves, hair products, textiles, yarns and tomato products.

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