U.S. Ban On Goods From China's Xinjiang Region Starts

On Tuesday, June 21, 2022, a new law restricting imports from China's western Xinjiang Province goes into effect, giving US customs officials broad authority to prevent goods linked to forced labor of the region's mostly Muslim Uyghur minority from entering the country, Thomas Maresca reported for United Press International (UPI).

Photo Insert: Cotton, apparel, tomatoes, and polysilicon (a key material used in solar panels) are among the high-priority sectors for enforcement.

According to researchers, an estimated 1 million Uighurs have been held in re-education camps in Xinjiang, where they have been subjected to abuses such as torture, forced labor, and forced sterilization. China's treatment of minorities has been described by the White House as "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity."

The law, passed by Congress in December, requires US customs agents to assume that goods made entirely or partially in Xinjiang, or produced by entities in China linked to forced labor, are ineligible for importation.

Cotton, apparel, tomatoes, and polysilicon (a key material used in solar panels) are among the high-priority sectors for enforcement, according to a US Department of Homeland Security enforcement strategy released on Friday.

"Our department is committed to ending the abhorrent practice of forced labor around the globe," DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.

"We must combat these inhumane and exploitative practices while ensuring that legitimate goods can enter at our ports and reach American businesses and consumers as quickly as possible."

Mayorkas added that China "continues to systemically oppress and exploit Uighurs and other Muslim-majority communities" in Xinjiang. Beijing has consistently denied any accusation of forced labor.

Last week, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called the claim a "big lie made by anti-China forces." He added that the new US law "is nothing but a pretext used by the US side in an effort to seek political manipulation for the sheer purpose of destabilizing Xinjiang and containing China's development."

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