US tightens grip on entities involved in “forced labour” in Xinjiang

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday announced the expansion of the entity list of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) to “fight the exploitation and abuse of the Uyghur people.”

The DHS added five entities belonging to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) bringing the new total to 73 entries, the DHS said in an official press release.

The UFLPA entity list is a list of companies that are involved in either sourcing raw materials or producing final products in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). According to the Press statement, the latest entities added to the UFLPA list are Century Sunshine Group Holdings Ltd., Kashgar Construction Engineering (Group) Co.; Ltd., Rare Earth Magnesium Technology Group Holdings, Ltd.; Xinjiang Habahe Ashele Copper Co., Ltd. (also known as Ashele Copper), and Xinjiang Tengxiang Magnesium Products Co.Ltd.

The DHS in the press statement mentioned that from August 9 this year US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will apply a rebuttable presumption that goods produced by these companies will be prohibited from entering the United States boundaries.

The list represents DHS’s commitment to eradicating forced labour and promoting accountability for the PRC’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in the XUAR.

“As DHS identifies more entities across different sectors that use or facilitate forced labour, we act to keep their tainted goods out of our nation’s supply chains. Today’s announcement strengthens our enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and helps responsible companies conduct due diligence so that, together, we can keep the products of forced labour out of our country. We will continue to implement this law with full force in our efforts to fight the exploitation and abuse of the Uyghur people and other persecuted groups and protect a free and fair market,” Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security said according to the DHS press statement.

This decision taken against these entities according to the press statement will also apply to the Office of the the US Trade Representative and the US Departments of Commerce, Justice, Labour, State, and Treasury, which are members of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF).

The UFLPA Entity List includes companies that are active in the apparel, agriculture, polysilicon, plastics, chemicals, batteries, household appliances, electronics, and food additives sectors, among others. The DHS press statement also mentioned that identifying these additional entities provides US importers with more information to conduct due diligence and examine their supply chains for risks of forced labour to ensure compliance with the UFLPA.

Additionally, Robert Silvers, the DHS under-secretary for Policy also serves as the chairman of FLETF in the “We have shown again through today’s enforcement actions that the United States is committed to keeping goods made with forced labour out of US supply chains. Companies must conduct due diligence and know where their products are coming from. The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force will continue to designate entities in a variety of sectors that meet the criteria for inclusion on the UFLPA Entity List, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will continue its vigilant enforcement at our ports.”

The press statement quoted FLETF which mentioned that they had reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, that two entities out of the recently added companies are also involved in working with the government of the XUAR to recruit, transport, transfer, harbour or receive forced labour of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of the XUAR.