The United States has banned imports from 37 Chinese firms over alleged human rights abuses involving the Uyghur population, the Department of Homeland Security announced on Tuesday.
The move targets companies in the textile, mining, and solar sectors under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
The additions include Huafu Fashion Co., one of the world’s leading textile manufacturers, and 25 of its subsidiaries, accused of forced labor in Xinjiang’s cotton industry. Donghai JA Solar Technology Co. and Hongyuan Green Energy Co., which use polysilicon sourced from Xinjiang, were also listed.
Mining firms, including Zijin Mining Group Co. and three of its subsidiaries, which extract metals like zinc and copper from Xinjiang, were implicated. These companies are now restricted under the entity list, which aims to curb imports linked to what the U.S. calls systemic human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, signed into law in December 2021, has resulted in 144 companies being blacklisted to date. The U.S. alleges these firms are tied to forced labor practices facilitated by internment camps for Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, charges that Beijing has consistently denied.
