US ban on 29 additional Chinese companies for ‘forced labor’ in Xinjiang hurts US companies’ and consumers’ interests: experts

The US on Friday local time announced a ban on imports from 29 more Chinese companies over alleged “forced labor” claims targeting Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, effective on Monday.

Experts noted that the primary objective of this measure is to curb the development of Chinese enterprises, destabilize Xinjiang region and contain China’s development under the guise of human rights, while ultimately harming US businesses and consumers.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Friday local time that it is adding 29 entities based in China to the so-called Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. With these additions, the total number of entities, including named subsidiaries, designated on the UFLPA Entity List totals 107 companies, according to a statement issued on the website of the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Effective Monday, goods produced, in whole or in part, by these 29 entities will be restricted from entering the US. These newly designated entities produce a range of goods, including agricultural products, aluminum products, and polysilicon materials, as well as mine and process nonferrous metals such as copper, gold, and nickel, according to the statement.

The UFLPA was signed into law by President Joe Biden in December 2021.

The US is clearly using “human rights” as a pretext to curb the development of Chinese enterprises, destabilize Xinjiang region and contain China’s development, Liu Weidong a research fellow at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.

Such actions will ultimately harm the interests of relevant industries and consumers in the US, Liu said.

Although the US government is offering subsidies to local industries and rebuilding supply chains, decoupling from China is costly and unsustainable in the long term. China is a key trade partner for many countries, making it challenging for the US to fully achieve its decoupling strategy, Liu added.

It is also a shortsighted move that, in the long run, will negatively impact global economic stability and the interests of the US itself, Liu added.

In response to the US addition of several Chinese firms to the UFLPA Entity List in June, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that the US again spread false stories on Xinjiang and illegally sanctioned Chinese companies in the name of human rights.

Their goal is to destabilize Xinjiang, frame China and hold back China’s development. The US chooses to enforce this malicious legislation on Xinjiang and blacklist Chinese entities on the basis of those lies. This seriously interferes in China’s internal affairs, disrupts market order and violates international trade rules and basic norms governing international relations, Lin said.

What the US is doing is essentially creating “forced unemployment” in Xinjiang, and hurting the right to subsistence, employment and development of people in Xinjiang in the name of human right, Lin added, urging the US to immediately stop smearing China, lift illegal unilateral sanctions on Chinese businesses, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and undermining China’s interests under the pretext of human rights.