CBP Issues Five WROs Against Xinjiang Cotton, Hair Products, and Electronics
Today, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released five Withhold Release Orders (WRO) banning products from the Xinjiang region in China, including cotton, electronics, and hair products. The WROs come amidst widespread criticism of the Chinese government on its treatment of the Uyghur and other Muslim and Turkic minorities in the Xinjiang region, which experts have stated represents “the largest-scale detention of religious minorities since World War II.”
Two weeks ago on August 28, CAL joined nine other rights organizations in filing a petition with CBP, asking for a regional WRO against cotton products manufactured in Xinjiang with forced and prison labor. On the same day, the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and the World Uyghur Congress filed a similar petition.
This blog post discusses the scope and effect of the orders, the documented labor violations in Xinjiang, and the government and company reactions.
The Five WROs
Under Section 307 of the Tariff Act, CBP can issue a WRO if there is reasonable belief that imported goods are produced with forced or prison labor. The newly issued WROs ban products from companies in the Xinjiang region producing cotton, garments, hair products, and electronics, based on CBP’s reasonable belief that they use forced labor, prison labor, or both. Also banned are all products manufactured with labor from Lop County No. 4 Vocational Skills Education and Training Center, which provides prison labor to nearby manufacturers.
The petition that CAL joined has identified eight cotton and apparel companies against which the US should issue immediate WROs. Only one of those companies is targeted, Yili Thuowan Garment Manufacturing Co., Ltd, along with Baoding LYSZD Trade and Business Co., Ltd. CBP stated it had found indicators of “restriction of movement, isolation, intimidation and threats, withholding of wages, and abusive working and living conditions” within these companies.
Notably, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) is not included. It is estimated to produce 34% of China’s overall cotton production and has been described as a paramilitary entity administering its own prison and factory system. On July 31, 2020, the US sanctioned XPCC and two individuals connected to the XPCC under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, stating that they were connected to “serious human rights abuse against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, which reportedly include mass arbitrary detention and severe physical abuse, among other serious abuses targeting Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim population indigenous to Xinjiang, and other ethnic minorities in the region.”
The petition had asked for a regional WRO for cotton products from Xinjiang. Such regional WROs are used more rarely than company-specific WROs, but, as the petition states, “the system of forced labor is so extensive that there is reason to believe that most cotton-based products linked to the Uyghur Region are a product wholly or in part of forced labor.”
On Tuesday, September 8, 2020, a CBP representative released a statement to Reuters saying that CBP planned to block the importation of all cotton and tomato products from the Xinjiang region. However, officials in the Trump administration reportedly voiced concerns over the impacts of such a wide WRO on supply chains. (According to Al Jazeera, these officials included Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Agricultural Secretary Sonny Perdue, and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.) The government is still looking into issuing a broader WRO, and the Ways and Means Committee is set to have a hearing on the topic on Thursday, September 17.
When issued, WROs takes immediate effect, affecting products in transit, and the affected products have to be re-imported or destroyed.
Forced Labor in the Xinjiang Region
In Xinjiang, home to the Uyghur and other Muslim and Turkic minorities, the Chinese government has been forcing people into “re-education” internment camps, which experts believe are part of efforts to uproot these groups from their religious and cultural heritage. People are detained for reasons such as wearing headscarves, a beard, or having too many children. Some report being forced to “pick a crime” from a list, even though these individuals claim not having done any of these things. In 2018, the UN said it had credible reports that one million Uyghurs were being held in these secret camps.
Forced labor is rampant in internment camps, and through involuntary work placement programs that place workers in factories all over the country. Many companies benefit from forced labor; a report identified at least 83 well-known global brands who source from companies with such employment practices.
For more on the forced labor practices in Xinjiang, see our previous blog and the petition.
Government and Company Reactions
In recent months, the US government has been taking action. On Labor Day, Morgan Ortagus, spokesperson for the State Department, went on Twitter and called on the Chinese government to end forced labor practices in Xinjiang.
In June 2020, the US passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020, requiring the government to report on human rights abuses in Xinjiang against the Uyghur. In the past year, the US issued WROs against four companies from China producing garment and hair products. On June 17, 2020, the CBP blocked $800,000 worth of hair extensions produced by Lop County Meixin Hair Product Co. at the border under one of those WROs. Later, in July, the State Department sent a letter to US companies warning them about human rights risks in supply chains associated with the Xinjiang region. The companies included Walmart, Apple, and Amazon.
Some companies have reacted to these government warnings and pressure from civil society. Patagonia issued a statement in July, stating that it was “actively exiting the Xinjiang region.” Nike, a primary customer of the Qingdao Taewang Shoes Co. factory outside Xinjiang, has stated that the supplier has stopped hiring employees from the Xinjiang region. PVH pointed out in a statement that it did not produce in Xinjiang and had prohibited its licensees from producing finished products there. It will end all relationships with companies using cotton produced in Xinjiang.
Unfortunately, this WRO is limited to only a few specific companies. But, in light of slow company reactions, it is a necessary step towards human rights accountability. We hope that a more general WRO will be issued and that other countries issue similar bans. In Europe, Members of the European Parliament have called on the EU Commission to ban products connected to forced labor in Xinjiang, so far to no avail.
Bettina Braun is a Legal Fellow at Corporate Accountability Lab.
