U.S. TO BLOCK COTTON, TOMATO IMPORTS FROM XINJIANG OVER CRACKDOWN

The US government announced that it will halt imports of cotton and tomatoes from the Uighur region of China in its most sweeping action yet to pressure the Communist Party over its campaign against ethnic minorities, Ben Fox reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Officials said Customs and Border Protection will use its authority to block products suspected of being produced with forced labor to keep out cotton, tomatoes and related products from the Xinjiang region of northwest China.

Xinjiang is a major global supplier of cotton, so the order could have significant effects on international commerce. The Trump administration has already blocked imports from individual companies linked to forced labor in the region, and the US has imposed sanctions on Communist Party officials with prominent roles in the campaign.

The order will put economic pressure not just on China but major global retailers who unwittingly or otherwise import goods produced by people under conditions that are akin to modern-day slavery.

“Any global apparel brand that is not either out of Xinjiang already, or plotting a very swift exit, is courting legal and reputational disaster,” said Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, a labor rights monitoring organization.

“The days when any major apparel brand can safely profit from Xinjiang cotton are over.” The consortium estimates the US ban affects about 20% of the global cotton supply.

The US imported about $9 billion worth of cotton goods from China overall last year, according to Brenda Smith, the executive assistant commissioner at Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Trade. That does not include products from third countries. Only about $10 million in tomato products entered the U.S. from China last year, Smith said.

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