The list includes Chinese textile giant Huafu Fashion, its subsidiaries, and solar and mining companies that manufacture products or mine minerals in Xinjiang.
The outgoing Biden administration is banning imports from an additional 37 China-based companies over forced labor in the Xinjiang region, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated on Jan. 14.
Starting on Jan. 15, Huafu Fashion, one of the world’s largest textile manufacturers, 25 of its subsidiaries, and 11 Chinese solar or mining companies will be included in the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List for producing products or mining critical minerals in Xinjiang, where the Chinese communist regime is accused of human rights abuses against the Uyghur people and other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities.
Under the UFLPA, businesses are banned from importing products from companies on the list and anything mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in Xinjiang, unless they can prove that no forced labor is involved.
The Jan. 14 addition is the largest expansion to the list since the UFLPA became law in December 2021, bringing the total number of companies on the list to 144.
“In adding 37 companies to the UFLPA Entities List and bringing the total to nearly 150, we again demonstrate our relentless fight against the cruelty of forced labor, our unwavering commitment to basic human rights, and our tireless defense of a free, fair, and competitive market,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
The DHS said Huafu “maintains a vertically integrated supply chain from cotton planting in [Xinjiang], processing, and yarn spinning through textiles manufacturing.”
Among the 25 Huafu subsidiaries added to the list are 22 located in Xinjiang.
According to a list published in July 2023, compiled by the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at Britain’s Sheffield Hallam University, Huafu had been connected in media or academic reports to state-sponsored labor transfer outside Xinjiang, while one of its subsidiaries, Xinjiang Tianfu Cotton Supply Chain Co., had been connected to state-sponsored labor transfer within the region.
By Lily Zhou
