‘US bill would bar goods from Xinjiang, classifying them as the product of forced labour by Uygurs’, 12 March 2020

“US lawmakers unveiled new legislation on Wednesday that would effectively block imports of any goods from China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, amid concerns they were made by Uygurs there who had been subject to forced labour.”

“The act … would require companies that work with Xinjiang-based suppliers to provide convincing evidence that their goods were not produced by involuntary workers.”

“Currently, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency can bar the import of goods – or blacklist the supplier of those goods – if there is evidence forced labour was involved in their production.”

“The bill comes as reports grow from both the international media and research institutions contending that forced labour is widely used in Xinjiang.”

“The bill would also require companies publicly traded on US stock markets to disclose any connections with entities that engage in forced labour in Xinjiang, provide mass surveillance technology to the region or have been subject to US sanctions over the mass internment programmes.”