U.S. Ban on Goods from China’s Xinjiang Region Goes into Effect

A new law restricting imports from Communist China’s western Xinjiang province took effect on Tuesday under a law passed by the U.S. Congress last December. Goods related to forced labor of the Muslim Uighur minority will be banned from entering the United States. This shows that the U.S. government will not ignore Communist China’s forced labor and crimes against humanity toward the Uighur people, PUI reported on June 20.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is committed to ending the abhorrent forced labor practices around the world, according to an enforcement strategy released on Friday. High priority areas for enforcement include cotton, apparel, agricultural products, and polysilicon, a key material used in solar panels.

Products from Xinjiang will only be allowed into the United States if there is “clear and convincing” evidence that the goods were not produced under forced labor. And the burden of proof is on importers, who must provide evidence of every link in the supply chain from raw materials to finished products.

Researchers say an estimated 1 million Uighurs are imprisoned in re-education camps in Xinjiang, where they are subjected to abuses including torture, forced labor, and forced sterilization.