The Biden administration has added more Chinese companies to a blacklist on Tuesday, banning their goods from being imported into the US as officials attempt to eliminate forced labor, in particular China’s Uyghur Muslim minorities, from the supply chain.
Two companies, battery maker Camel Group and Chenguang Biotech Group, a spice and extract company, have been recently added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) entity list, as per US authorities.
These two companies were banned on the accusations of working with China’s government to recruit, transport, or receive forced labor or members of downtrodden groups such as Uyghur minorities out of the northwestern Xinjiang region.
In a statement, Katherine Tai, US Trade Representative, said, “Today’s additions demonstrate the United States’ unwavering commitment to eliminating forced labor, including by ensuring that goods made by forced labor are not imported into our country.”
Apart from the US government, lawmakers in other Western countries have used the term “genocide” to describe the treatment of the Uyghur minority in the Xinjiang region in China, a claim that Beijing rejects.
Around 1 million people, the majority being Muslim minorities, have been held captive in the region and are victims of ill-treatment such as forced sterilization of women and forced labor.
“We will continue to work with all of our partners to keep goods made with forced labor from Xinjiang out of U.S. commerce while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade”, said Alejandro Mayorkas, Homeland Security Secretary, in another statement.
In 2021, Congress adopted the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act with neutral support. The act bans goods from the Xinjiang region from entering the US unless the companies have proof that verifies that they do not engage in forced labor for production.
In early 2023, two more Chinese companies, Ninestar Corporation, a printer manufacturer, and Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical Co, a chemical products company, were included in the entity list.
