US bans cotton imports from China producer XPCC citing Xinjiang 'slave labor'
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
August 16, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2022
US bans cotton imports from China producer XPCC citing Xinjiang 'slave labor'

Global Economy

Reuters
03 December, 2020, 12:30 pm
Last modified: 03 December, 2020, 03:02 pm

Related News

  • Explainer: What to watch out for as talks on US -China audit deal drag on
  • Will US-China tensions boil over?
  • Five Chinese state-owned companies to delist from US
  • S Korea, China clash over US missile shield, complicating conciliation
  • US rethinks steps on China tariffs in wake of Taiwan response

US bans cotton imports from China producer XPCC citing Xinjiang 'slave labor'

The move is among several the Trump administration has been working on in its final weeks to harden the US position against China

Reuters
03 December, 2020, 12:30 pm
Last modified: 03 December, 2020, 03:02 pm
Chinese and US flags flutter near The Bund, before US trade delegation meet their Chinese counterparts for talks in Shanghai, China July 30, 2019/ Reuters
Chinese and US flags flutter near The Bund, before US trade delegation meet their Chinese counterparts for talks in Shanghai, China July 30, 2019/ Reuters

The Trump administration expanded economic pressure on China's western region of Xinjiang, banning cotton imports from a powerful Chinese quasi-military organization that it says uses the forced labor of detained Uighur Muslims.

The US Customs and Border Protection agency said on Wednesday its "Withhold Release Order" would ban cotton and cotton products from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), one of China's largest producers.

The move, which could have a sweeping effect on companies involved in selling textiles and apparel to the United States, is among several the Trump administration has been working on in its final weeks to harden the US position against China, making it more difficult for President-elect Joe Biden to ease US-China tensions.

The targeting of XPCC, which produced 30% of China's cotton in 2015, follows a Treasury Department ban in July on all dollar transactions with the sprawling business-and-paramilitary entity, founded in 1954 to settle China's far west.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kenneth Cuccinelli, who oversees the border agency, called "Made in China" a "warning label."

"The cheap cotton goods you may be buying for family and friends during this season of giving - if coming from China - may have been made by slave labor in some of the most egregious human rights violations existing today in the modern world," he told a news conference.

Cuccinelli said a region-wide Xinjiang cotton import ban was still being studied.

The United Nations cites what it says are credible reports that 1 million Muslims held in camps have been put to work. China denies mistreating Uighurs and says the camps are vocational training centers needed to fight extremism.

Broad Impact

While the Treasury sanctions target XPCC's financial structure, Wednesday's action will force apparel firms and other companies shipping cotton products into the United States to eliminate XPCC-produced cotton fiber from many stages of their supply chains, said Brenda Smith, CBP's executive assistant commissioner for trade.

"That pretty much blocks all Chinese cotton textile imports," said a China-based cotton trader, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Identifying cotton from a specific supplier will sharply raise manufacturing costs, and only the few large companies with fully integrated operations across the complex textile supply chain could guarantee that no XPCC product has been used, the trader said.

"It really depends on how much proof they want. If they want real proof that this cotton has not been used, that's going to be extremely difficult," he added.

Major clothing brands including Gap Inc, Patagonia Inc and Zara owner Inditex have told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that did not source from factories in Xinjiang - but that they could not confirm that their supply chains were free of cotton picked from the region.

The XPCC could not immediately be reached for comment. The China National Textile and Apparel Council declined to comment. The China Cotton Textile Association could not immediately be reached.

In September, CBP considered a much broader import ban on all cotton and tomato products from Xinjiang, but after dissent from within the Trump administration, it announced narrower bans on products from specific entities, including two smaller cotton and apparel producers.

US apparel makers had criticized a broader ban as impossible to enforce, but on Wednesday clothing and retail groups welcomed the XPCC-specific ban. The groups, including the American Apparel and Footwear Association and the National Retail Federation, said in a statement they were on the "front lines of efforts to ensure forced labor does not taint our supply chains or enter the United States."

Biden has pledged to work with US allies to bring pressure on China to curb human rights and trade abuses. Trump in recent weeks has increased action against major Chinese state companies, banning access to US technology and investments.

Top News / World+Biz

US-China / US-China tension / US-China trade / US-China rivalry / US-China Tensions / US-China Relations / Cotton / Cotton import / XPCC / Xinjiang / Ban

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • PM gives go-ahead to formal negotiations on CEPA
    PM gives go-ahead to formal negotiations on CEPA
  • Photo: Reuters
    Russia now offers Bangladesh finished oil
  • Photo: Collected
    Bangladesh is not in a crisis situation: IMF

MOST VIEWED

  • US Dollar and Euro banknotes are seen in this illustration taken July 17, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
    Dollar gains, euro recovers earlier losses
  • The Lebanese-flagged bulk carrier Brave Commander is seen in the sea port of Pivdennyi during loading with wheat for Ethiopia after restarting grain export, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Yuzhne, Odesa region, Ukraine August 14, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
    Turkey says five more grain ships leave Ukrainian ports
  • The Lebanese-flagged bulk carrier Brave Commander leaves the sea port of Pivdennyi with wheat for Ethiopia after restarting grain export, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Yuzhne, Odesa region, Ukraine August 16, 2022. REUTERS/Igor Tkachenko
    First post-blockade food aid ship leaves Ukraine for Africa
  • A diesel fuel tank at a supplier in the US.Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
    A storm brews in heating oil
  • A vehicle is seen refueled with petrol at a fuel station in Mumbai June 25, 2010. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/Files
    Nothing personal, strictly business: Why India buys Russian oil despite Western criticism
  • Pedestrians wait to cross a road at a junction near a giant display of stock indexes in Shanghai, China August 3, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song
    Stocks drift, dollar firms as growth fears stifle sentiment

Related News

  • Explainer: What to watch out for as talks on US -China audit deal drag on
  • Will US-China tensions boil over?
  • Five Chinese state-owned companies to delist from US
  • S Korea, China clash over US missile shield, complicating conciliation
  • US rethinks steps on China tariffs in wake of Taiwan response

Features

Photo: Collected

Which Nintendo Switch should you switch to?

3h | Brands
Photo: Collected

Welcome to the age of glass facades

11h | Habitat
Photo: Mumit M/TBS

Why artificial oyster reefs are the answer to our coastal embankments problems

11h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Anwar Group: From comb maker to owner of 20 companies

13h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

The app that runs water taps

The app that runs water taps

55m | Videos
B-Latin Club brings rhythm to busy life of Dhaka

B-Latin Club brings rhythm to busy life of Dhaka

2h | Videos
Whose negligence caused loss of life in under construction projects?

Whose negligence caused loss of life in under construction projects?

3h | Videos
Shakib Al Hasan wins despite 'losing'

Shakib Al Hasan wins despite 'losing'

3h | Videos

Most Read

1
Dollar crisis: BB orders removal of 6 banks’ treasury chiefs 
Banking

Dollar crisis: BB orders removal of 6 banks’ treasury chiefs 

2
From left Afzal Karim, Murshedul Kabir and Mohammad Jahangir
Banking

Sonali, Agrani and Rupali banks get new MDs

3
Photo: TBS
Bangladesh

5 crushed to death as BRT girder falls on car in Uttara

4
Dollar price drops by Tk8 in kerb market
Economy

Dollar price drops by Tk8 in kerb market

5
Representational Image. Photo: Collected
Bangladesh

Air passengers should plan extra commute time to airport: DMP

6
Photo: Collected
Transport

Will Tokyo’s traffic model solve Dhaka’s gridlocks?

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]