U.S. Cracks Down on Connections to Forced Labor in China’s Xingjian region
Date of Publication: July 20,2021
To address allegations of forced labor in China’s Xingjian Uyghur Autonomous Region, the United States government is warning that businesses with connections to supply chains in this region run a high risk of violating U.S. laws, which could result in criminal or civil enforcement actions.
This new advisory applies to any businesses or individual with connections to the Xingjian Uyghur Autonomous Region. This includes:
- Investors
- Consultants
- Labor brokers
- Academic institutions
- Research service providers
This crackdown on discouraging connections with the Xinjiang region is a result of concerns that the region uses forced laborers, particularly laborers from the Uyghur people, a minority ethnicity group in Northwest China, and other minority ethic groups in the region. The forced labor concerns apply to goods that:
- Come from elsewhere in China but are connected to the use of forced labor in Xinjiang
- Come from outside of China but source inputs from Xinjiang
Some industries have a higher risk of supply chains connections to this region. These include:
- Cell phones
- Electronic assembly
- Construction
- Cleaning supplies
- Agriculture
- Printing products
- Noodles
- Footwear
- Renewable energy
- Hospitality services
- Textiles
- Toys
In addition, raw and refined materials, commodities, immediate goods, byproducts, and recycled materials may also have connections to forced labor violations in Xinjiang, regardless of if the final product comes from the region.
For businesses or individuals with supply chains connections to the Xingjian Uyghur Autonomous Region, risks of continuing to work with a region that utilizes forced labor include
- Violations of statutes criminal forced labor
- Sanctions violations
- Export control violations
- Violations of the prohibition on importers of goods produced in whole or in part with forced or convict labor
This content is intended for informational purposes. Due to the generality of this content, the provided information may not be applicable in all situations. We encourage the reader to review the most up-date-regulations directly with the U.S. government’s sources on the forced labor violations in the Xingjian Uyghur Autonomous Region, which can be found here.