US names 5 more Chinese industries for enforcement under Uygur labour law

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Tuesday it is designating five new Chinese industry sectors, including copper, lithium and steel, for “high priority” enforcement under a human rights law restricting imports from China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Tuesday’s updated list also names caustic soda – a chemical used in textiles and detergents – and red dates, bringing the total number of high-priority sectors targeted under the law to 12.

The Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act, which went into effect in 2022, creates a “rebuttable presumption” that all goods partially or wholly produced in Xinjiang are tainted by forced labour and therefore barred from being imported.

It was expected to have far-reaching effects on global supply chains given Xinjiang’s status as a manufacturing hub for goods ranging from agricultural staples such as cotton and tomatoes to sought-after materials like viscose and polysilicon.

“America has a moral, economic and national security duty to eradicate threats that endanger our nation’s prosperity, including unfair trade practices that disadvantage the American people and stifle our economic growth,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.

“The use of slave labour is repulsive and we will hold Chinese companies accountable for abuses and eliminate threats its forced labour practices pose to our prosperity,” she added.