In reaction to alleged abuses of the primarily Muslim Uyghur minority population, the US Senate has enacted legislation prohibiting imports from China’s Xinjiang province. Unless proven otherwise, the legislation will assume that commodities created in Xinjiang are made with forced labor.
With the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by unanimous consent, which is set to go into force on Tuesday, the prohibitions will be extended to all imports. Companies are required to demonstrate that imports from the region are not produced using forced labor under the laws.
Under previous trade restrictions, American officials intercepted over 900 shipments from the region in the fourth quarter of 2021. However, trade and industry organizations say the new legislation’s vague language threatens to jeopardize the majority of China’s $500 billion in yearly sales to the United States.
The allegations against China
Several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Netherlands, have accused China of genocide. According to US authorities, members of the region’s minority Uyghur group, which is largely Muslim, have been arrested and forced into labor. China has often denied allegations that it is imprisoning Uyghurs in Xinjiang detention camps.
Since April 2017, China has jailed over a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, according to the US Congress. It estimates that tens of thousands of inmates have worked in Xinjiang and other provinces “for a fraction of minimum pay or without any remuneration” under the pretense of poverty alleviation and industrial aid programs.
China also “interferes with audits and traditional due diligence procedures to vet goods and supply chains in Xinjiang – including intimidating prospective witnesses and hiding crucial information,” according to the report. China has denied using forced labor and claims the Xinjiang camps are “re-education” centers meant to combat terrorism.
However, secret documentation and first-hand testimony from within the camps obtained by the BBC revealed an organized system of mass rape, sexual assault, and torture of ethnic minorities. Human rights organizations have also accused the Chinese government of steadily removing Uyghurs’ religious and other freedoms through widespread monitoring, incarceration, brainwashing, and even forced sterility.
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
The US Senate passed the far-reaching UFLPA in July, and Congress passed it in December. It was later signed into law by current US Vice President Joe Biden. Beginning on Tuesday, US Customs and Border Protection will halt any cargo from Xinjiang that arrives at US ports.
Cargo will be denied entry unless the importer can “show by clear and compelling evidence that the commodities were not manufactured using forced labor,” according to the US Department of Homeland Security.
