For years, human rights defenders, journalists, and the international community have documented and denounced human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region in China, including what experts believe to be “the largest-scale detention of religious minorities since World War II.” Yet a number of major brands—including Adidas, H&M, Nike, and Patagonia—are still suspected of using forced labor from Xinjiang in their supply chains.
On Friday, August 28, 2020, Corporate Accountability Lab joined the AFL-CIO, Freedom United, Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum, Human Trafficking Legal Center, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, Investor Alliance for Human Rights, Uyghur American Association, Uyghur Human Rights Project, and World Uyghur Congress to file a petition under Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), asking CBP to issue Withhold and Release Orders (WROs) against companies importing cotton and cotton-made goods from Xinjiang “manufactured in any part with” forced and/or prison labor. The Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) filed a separate Section 307 petition today, just months after they filed a letter with the UK customs authorities asking the UK government to ban the importation of all cotton goods produced with prison labor from Xinjiang, China.
These two petitions were filed just a few weeks after the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region issued a Call to Action. This post discusses the forced labor economy in Xinjiang, how 307 petitions can have an impact, and why they are essential tools for holding companies accountable for human rights abuses in their supply chains.
Forced and Prison Labor in Xinjiang
Forced labor is so prevalent in Xinjiang that experts have concluded that “nothing made in whole or in part with products from Xinjiang should have any place in an ethically clean supply chain.” People are forced to work through internment in re-education camps, incarceration in prisons, and involuntary work placements as a part of “poverty alleviation” programs.
Xinjiang, located in the northwest corner of China, is home to an ethnically and religiously diverse population. Recently, the Chinese government began interning Uyghurs and other Muslim and Turkic minorities in so-called re-education camps, where they are reportedly forced to endure interrogation, indoctrination, and in many cases, forced labor. The region is heavily surveilled, and actions as innocuous as growing a beard, possessing books about Uyghur or Islamic history, or wearing the wrong t-shirt can result in detention for months or years. Experts estimate that over one million people are detained in these camps, which makes this crisis “the largest-scale detention of religious minorities since World War II.”
Forced labor is allegedly rampant in these re-education camps, with factories often located directly inside the camps. Global North brands, such as Nike, Muji, Adidas, H&M, and many others (see a full list here) are complicit in this forced labor, sourcing from factories and prisons that use forced labor. Even after detainees are “released,” they are frequently sent to factories elsewhere in Xinjiang or other parts of China rather than permitted to reunite with their families at home. One harrowing account from a 38-year-old nurse described how she and 660 other detainees were shackled, handcuffed, and transported to a textile factory, where she has been forced to work for two years.
Xinjiang also has the largest concentration of prisons in China, with an estimated 500,000–800,000 people incarcerated. The oversized prison population in Xinjiang is part of the ongoing repression against the region’s minority groups. According to Chinese human rights defenders, “the number of ethnic minorities who have been put under criminal prosecution in [Xinjiang] skyrocketed in 2017, with nearly 230,000 charged with the crimes of ‘terrorism,’ ‘separatism,’ and ‘religious extremism,’ accounting for an alarming 21 percent of all arrests in China in 2017.”
Another form of forced labor operates via programs that the Chinese government refers to as “poverty alleviation” or “labor transfers.” Local authorities are required to meet quotas of laborers to fill “work placements” in Xinjiang and across China, where workers are employed by private companies—often for very low wages—and housed in company dorms. People who decline or resist their work placement are allegedly threatened with detention. Recruiters can be paid up to $43 USD per “surplus laborer” they place in the program, and factories who hire Xinjiang workers through these programs also receive subsidies. Conditions for Uyghurs and others in these programs are reportedly similar to those reported at re-education camps.
The 307 Petition
Forced labor in re-education camps, prisons, and job training programs have fueled the growth of Xinjiang’s economy and, in particular, its cotton industry. Xinjiang produces 84% of China’s cotton output, a substantial portion of which is destined for the United States in the form of textiles, yarn, and apparel. In fact, an estimated 33% of all apparel imports entering the United States come from China. But it is against US law to import goods produced by forced labor.
Section 307 of the Tariff Act allows CBP to take action to stop the importation of goods “manufactured in any part” with forced labor. Under 19 C.F.R.§ 12.42 (e), if the CBP Commissioner finds that “information available reasonably but not conclusively indicates that merchandise … is being, or is likely to be, imported” into the US, s/he can issue a WRO for those goods. A WRO will stop the goods at the border if there is reasonable belief that such goods were manufactured at least in part with forced labor. The WRO, in effect, shifts the burden of proof to the companies to show their imports were not manufactured in any part using forced labor.
Both 307 petitions filed on Friday, August 28 request that CBP prohibit the importation of all cotton and cotton-made goods produced in whole or in part with forced or prison labor in Xinjiang in a two-phased manner. First, petitioners urge CBP to issue a WRO for all cotton and cotton-made goods produced by companies in the Xinjiang region, as well as by companies outside the region with subsidiaries or operations in the Xinjiang region that have accepted Chinese government subsidies or employed workers provided by the government. Second, petitioners urge CBP to grant importers that source inputs produced in the Xinjiang region—including fabric, yarn, or cotton—6 months to establish that their inputs are not produced in the Xinjiang region. If importers are unable to show this within 6 months, petitioners ask CBP to prohibit the goods from entering the US.
307 petitions are an increasingly important tool for holding companies accountable for human rights abuses in their supply chains. By leveraging the power of the federal government, civil society can pressure companies to change their sourcing practices if they wish to retain their access to the US market. At the same time, CBP must increase the number and frequency of its enforcement actions. In the past year, CBP has issued four WROs against goods produced by forced labor in China: one in September 2019 for all garments from Hetian Taida Apparel Co., Ltd; one in May 2020 for hair products from Hitian Haolin Hair Accessories Co., Ltd; a third in June 2020 for hair products from Lop County Meixin Hair Productions Co., Ltd; and the fourth in August 2020 for garments from the Hero Vast Group. While these WROs send a message to suppliers in China, they only touch the tip of the iceberg of forced and prison labor produced goods. To impact companies’ sourcing policies, CBP must shift the burden to the importer to prove that cotton and cotton-made goods produced in China were not produced with forced labor.
The actions that we are asking CBP to take will stop companies from benefiting from the abuses of Uyghur and other Muslim and Turkic minorities in the Xinjiang region. CBP must take action—as required under Section 307 of the Tariff Act—to stop the importation of forced and prison labor produced goods.
To read the press release, click here. To read the 307 petition, click here. And to learn more about how 307 petitions can be used as a human rights tool, read this blog post.
Sam Sherman was a legal intern at CAL in the summer of 2020 and is a rising 2L at the University of Chicago Law School. Allie Brudney is a Staff Attorney at Corporate Accountability Lab.
