Demonstrators representing Tibetans and Uyghurs protest during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Leaders' Week in San Francisco, California in late 2023. Photo / Frederic J. Brown / AFP
Demonstrators representing Tibetans and Uyghurs protest during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Leaders' Week in San Francisco, California in late 2023. Photo / Frederic J. Brown / AFP
The United States says it is banning imports from dozens of China-based companies over alleged ties to forced labour, targeting firms in the mining, textiles and solar industries.
The Department of Homeland Security said it was adding 37 entities to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act entity list, bringingits total to nearly 150.
The additions mean goods wholly or partially made by these firms will be restricted from entering the United States.
Through the action, “we again demonstrate our relentless fight against the cruelty of forced labour, our unwavering commitment to basic human rights, and our tireless defence of a free, fair and competitive market”, said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
The department said this was the “largest single expansion of the list”.
The entities added include companies mining and processing critical minerals from Xinjiang, where Beijing has been accused of incarcerating more than one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a network of detention facilities.
Chinese officials strongly deny these claims.
The additions also include companies growing Xinjiang cotton and manufacturing textiles for global export, alongside those producing inputs for solar modules using polysilicon made in the region.
