ExclusiveXinjiang: US moves swiftly to enforce ban on cotton products linked to forced labour
- A day after its announcement, US customs has already detained shipments connected to a ban on Xinjiang Production & Construction Corps’ cotton
- US customs is also requesting American importers provide documentary evidence that they have full visibility of every stage of their cotton supply chain
US customs authorities are baring their teeth over a sweeping new ban on cotton products from Xinjiang, even as businesses scramble to remove the sprawling Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) from their supply chains.
“I’ve already seen a detention of goods and request for supply chain information in connection with this withhold release order (WRO),” said Elise Shibles, a former US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer, now an adviser at trade consultancy Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg.
This week’s WRO blocked the import of all XPCC-made cotton products, linking the quasi-military entity to the alleged widespread use of forced labour in Xinjiang. The ban will also apply to products made anywhere in the world containing raw cotton harvested by XPCC, which is responsible for about a third of China’s cotton production and which accounts for 17 per cent of the Xinjiang economy.
Experts say it is impossible to do business with China’s cotton and textile industries without also engaging with XPCC in some way.
If fully enforced, it could effectively amount to a ban on many garments from China and around the region. XPCC’s predominance in the opaque Xinjiang supply chain means it can be difficult to prove they have not been involved in some stage of production.
But an aggressive approach has seen the CBP backdate the ban to the end of November, according to a filing on its website – unusual for WROs, which are usually enforced from the day of issue. This is in line with the expiration of a general license for US firms trading with the XPCC, sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act.