US To Block Key Exports from Chinese Region

admin September 10, 2020 Daily Current Affairs

The US is to block key exports from China’s Xinjiang region due to allegations that they are produced using forced labour.
The proposed bans include cotton and tomato products which are two of China’s major commodity exports.
The Trump administration has been ratcheting up pressure on China for its treatment of Xinjiang’s Uighur Muslims.
In recent years China has massively increased security in Xinjiang, citing a threat of separatism and terrorism.
By some estimates up to a million people have been detained without trial for minor infractions, in what China says are re-education camps.
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is currently preparing Withhold Release Orders which allows it to detain shipments based on suspicions of forced labour involvement.
The law is aimed at combating human trafficking, child labour and other human rights abuses.
Earlier this year US lawmakers proposed legislation that would assume that all goods produced in Xinjiang were made with forced labour and would require certification that they are not.
Washington and Beijing have repeatedly clashed over the high-security detention camps, which China says are necessary to improve security.
The proposed bans could have a far-reaching impact for US retailers, clothes makers and food producers.
China produces about 20% of the world’s cotton with most of it coming from Xinjiang.
The region is also a major source of petrochemicals and other goods that feed into Chinese factories.