Xinjiang trade blacklist received two additional Chinese firms after the US found it linked to Uyghur forced labor.
The US decision came after Beijing retaliated against their human rights violation claims and called it one of America's most "discriminatory measures."
CNBC shared that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) specifically listed a Chinese steel manufacturing company and a maker of artificial sweeteners. They will be placed on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) list.
With these two additions, the entity list is now up to 75. The sanction prohibits product imports in the country's Xinjiang Uyghur region. However, this was only based on the assumption that Uyghurs and ethnic minorities in the country were subject to forced labor during product manufacturing.
US Blacklist Crackdown on Chinese Forced Labor
In December 2021, UFLPA became a policy in the US, which aims to stop imports from China's Xinjiang region. This is due to claims of forced labor, which China has been vehemently denying.
As retaliation, China made its investigation against US companies. In a September report by The New York Times, the Ministry of Commerce concluded that Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, or the PVH group, discriminated against cotton suppliers from Xinjiang by boycotting products without evidence.
Unfortunately, the group now runs on a 30-day deadline to explain their actions, or they will be included in China's unreliable entities list, which could lead to restrictions.
PVH previously responded that they are only following laws and will be cooperating with Chinese authorities.
Aside from the US, the European Union is also looking into Uyghur forced labor claims by approving new laws to ban products made in the same manner. They will require companies, especially prominent ones, to undergo human rights and environmental checks on every overseas supplier.
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