A trio of US carmakers is now under scrutiny for using imported parts from China connected to child labor.
Investigation Uncovers Forced Labor Links
A report by Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden criticizes BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, and Volkswagen after an investigation revealed that these auto manufacturers sourced some components from Sichuan Jingweida Technology Group Co., Ltd., a Chinese company linked to Uyghur forced labor.
Since the 1930s, the United States has passed several regulations banning goods connected to child and forced labor from entering the country.
In 2021, lawmakers successfully passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) to address the exploitation of thousands of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim communities displaced and subjected to forced labor in China's Xinjiang region.
Aluminum, one of the main components of modern vehicles, is a major product of Xinjiang. The region alone holds 10 percent of the world's aluminum supply.
Automakers Fail to Ensure Clean Supply Chains
Wyden's report states that BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, and Volkswagen are complicit in China's forced labor scheme after failing to keep their supply chains free of illegal parts.
These parts, made by Uyghurs detained in Chinese camps, are now in 8,000 Mini Cooper cars that BMW disclosed have already been shipped to the United States.
After the Senate further investigated the company's relationship with the banned Chinese supplier, BMW only stopped shipping these cars in April.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen informed authorities in January 2024 that a shipment of its vehicles, including Porsches and Bentleys, headed for the US market also contained parts supplied by a company blacklisted over UFLPA violations.
Volkswagen, which holds 50% equity in its joint venture with Chinese carmaker SAIC, told Human Rights Watch it is not legally responsible for human rights violations in the joint venture's supply chain under Germany's supply chain law.
"Automakers' self-policing is clearly not doing the job," Wyden said in the report.
"I'm calling on Customs and Border Protection to take a number of specific steps to supercharge enforcement and crack down on companies that fuel the shameful use of forced labor in China," the senator added.
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