"Uyghurs: US Senate passes bill to ban Xinjiang imports", 16 July 2021

The US Senate has passed a bill to ban imports from China's Xinjiang region, in response to alleged abuses of the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority group.

The legislation would create an assumption that goods manufactured in Xinjiang are made with forced labour, unless proven otherwise.

The Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act must pass the House of Representatives before it can be signed into law.

The US has already banned imports of Xinjiang cotton and tomatoes. [...]

The US bill, which passed by unanimous consent on Wednesday, means that importers of products from the region will have to prove the goods were not made with forced labour.

Under the legislation, the US Department of Homeland Security will also be required to create a list of entities that work with the Chinese government in the repression of Uyghurs and other ethnic minority groups, the Bloomberg news agency reported. [...]

It is not clear when the bill will be discussed in the House of Representatives. Its passage follows a warning to US firms that still have supply chain and investment ties in Xinjiang that they "could run a high risk of violating US law". [...]