WASHINGTON - The United States on Friday (July 31) banned imports from 43 more companies over alleged human rights abuses of Uyghur and other minority groups, including Hunan Aihua Group, one of China's largest capacitor manufacturers, according to a government posting.
The companies were added to the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act Entity List, which restricts the import of goods tied to what the US has determined are China's human rights abuses and ongoing genocide in the Xinjiang region.
The latest additions also include companies in the pharmaceutical, metals, cotton, food and lithium production sectors.
The posting marks the first time companies have been added to the list under the Trump administration, and brings the number of entities on the list from 144 to 187. It is also the largest number of entities added in one action since the Act was signed into law in December 2021. Companies on the list source materials from the Xinjiang region or work with the government there to recruit and transport Uyghurs and other persecuted groups out of the region.
"Today's action by the Trump administration strengthens America's economy against products made with slave labour and sends a message to the Chinese Communist Party that we will not look the other way on its genocide and human rights abuses," Congressman John Moolenaar, chair of the US House of Representatives Select Committee on China, said in a statement.
The US has said Chinese authorities have established internment camps for Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in China's western Xinjiang region. Beijing denies any abuses.
"The allegation that there is "forced labour" in Xinjiang is nothing but a lie," a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington said in a statement on Friday. "Chinese law explicitly prohibits forced labour. Workers of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang enjoy, in accordance with law, the rights to choose their occupations of their own free will, receive equal treatment in employment, and obtain remuneration for their work."
Hunan Aihua Group was added to the list because the US believes the company sources chemical foil and other materials from Xinjiang, the Department of Homeland Security said in the posting in the US Federal Register.
The company, which supplies consumer electronics, industrial, automotive and renewable energy markets, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chacha Food Co, whose products are exported to nearly 50 countries and regions, also was added to the list, according to the posting. Others added include Xinjiang Tianhongji Technology Co, Tefeng Pharmaceutical Co, Tianshan Aluminum Group and Henan Guorong Electronic Technology Co.
The companies could not immediately be reached.
US Customs and Border Protection has stopped more than 24,300 shipments tied to alleged forced labour, valued at nearly US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion), since the listing began, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
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