The US is putting more pressure on businesses over forced labor issues in China. The lawmakers are saying to stop imports from the Western Chinese region of Xinjiang as Beijing’s alleged use of forced labor emerges as a top item on their bilateral trade agenda. Imports of cotton were banned from Xinjiang since January 2021. The Chinese government already criticized the decision in January. The Xinjiang district has more than 50% share of china’s cotton production. China is now the world’s largest cotton consumer and the second-largest cotton producer, with total demand of about 8 million tons per year, accounting for about one-third of the total global consumption.
The US advisory said that if the companies still import cotton from these banned regions, the Businesses could face reputational risks or trigger US criminal enforcement through investment in Chinese companies, directly and indirectly, contributing to China’s surveillance network that primarily targets Muslim minority groups. The number of departments that signed up for the updated advisory stands at six, up from four last year, with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Labor Department joining.
The building pressure could produce chaos as its effects would be long-lasting. Various Nations follow the Americans. If they also boycott Xinjiang’s cotton, the problems will rise further for china. However, in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian criticized the United States for “fabricating lies” about Xinjiang one after another.
