U.S. Solar Products Pile Up In Ports Due To The Issue Of Slave Labor In Xinjiang

Taiwan media reported on Nov 12th that US federal customs officials and industry sources said that more than 1000 shipments of solar energy components worth hundreds of millions of US dollars have piled up at US ports recently, due to concerns about slave labor in Xinjiang. The US has banned importing solar energy components from the Xinjiang region in Communist China under a new law in June. In response to a public records request, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it had seized 1,053 shipments of solar equipment between June 21, the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act took effect, and October 25. No batch has been released yet. Under federal law that protects confidential trade secrets, the agency would not disclose the information of the manufacturer or confirm details about the quantity of solar equipment in the shipments. However, three industry sources familiar with the matter said the detained products included panels and polysilicon cells with a capacity of 1 gigawatt, primarily made by three producers in Communist China, Longi Green Energy Technology Co, Trina Solar Co Ltd and JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd. These three companies usually accounted for up to one-third of US panel supplies. However, the industry sources said the companies have suspended new shipments to the US due to concerns that additional cargo will also be held up.