US bans solar panel imports from Chinese firms over forced labour in Xinjiang

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<strong>The US Commerce Department has ordered a ban on imports of solar panel material from Chinese-based Hoshine Silicon Industry Co over forced labour and human rights abuse, according to a Reuters report.</strong></p>
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It has also restricted exports to Hoshine and three other Chinese companies including Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co, Xinjiang East Hope Nonferrous Metals Co, a subsidiary of Shanghai-based manufacturing giant East Hope Group; and Xinjiang GCL New Energy Material Co, part of GCL New Energy Holdings Ltd.</p>
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Besides exports have been restricted to the paramilitary Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), saying they were involved with the forced labor of Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.</p>
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The US Commerce Department said the companies and a paramilitary force, XPCC, "have been implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor and high-technology surveillance against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups in" Xinjiang.</p>
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Some of the companies listed by the Commerce Department are major manufacturers of monocrystalline silicon and polysilicon that are used in solar panel production.</p>
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The "Withhold Release Order" by U.S. Customs and Border Protection only blocks imports of the material from Hoshine. Reuters cited a source as saying the order does not impact the majority of U.S. imports of polysilicon and other silica-based products.</p>
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About 45% of all polysilicon used in solar module production is produced in Xinjiang, with 35% produced in other parts of China while the rest comes from outside China. The global solar energy supply chain has been squeezed by record high costs for polysilicon, labour and freight.</p>
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A second source said the move does not conflict with President Joe Biden's climate goals and support for the domestic solar industry.</p>
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The Biden administration sees the move as a "natural continuation" of the G7 agreement earlier this month to eliminate forced labour from supply chains.</p>
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However, Hoshine Silicon Industry and Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co said they do not export industrial silicon to the United States directly and the impact on its business would be limited.</p>
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The US had last year sanctioned XPCC for serious rights abuses against ethnic minorities. The paramilitary organization remains powerful in Xinjiang's energy and agriculture sectors, operating almost like a parallel state, having been sent to the region in the 1950s to build farms and settlements.</p>
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According to human rights activists it has been behind the ruthless crackdown against Uyghurs and runs detention camps in the region.</p>