US blacklists 29 more Chinese companies over alleged forced labour in Xinjiang

Products of offending firms range from hi-tech inputs such as polysilicon to food products like tomato paste, according to Homeland Security

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A picker harvests tomatoes in China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in September. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 12:45am, 23 Nov 2024Updated: 2:48am, 23 Nov 2024

The US government put more than two dozen Chinese companies on a blacklist meant to block imports of products made with forced labour, bringing the number of targeted firms to more than 100.

Products made by the 29 companies added to the Department of Homeland Security’s Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA) entity list range from hi-tech inputs, such as polysilicon, to food products like tomato paste, according to the department’s announcement on Friday.

The restrictions will take effect on November 25.

The US Congress passed the UFLPA in 2021 to target imports from Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in western China to prevent the entry of goods made under such conditions.

The law has since seen sanctions imposed on Chinese officials accused of being complicit in labour and human-rights abuses there as well as companies.

About two-thirds of Xinjiang’s nearly 26 million people are members of ethnic minorities, including the mostly Muslim Uygur and Kazakh groups.

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