DHS bans products from 3 Chinese companies tied to forced labor

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Tuesday it was adding three Chinese companies to a list of entities whose products are banned from being exported to the United States for their connection to forced labor.

The companies are seafood, aluminum and footwear organizations that are now on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. The banning is targeting those sectors because they play an important role in Xinjiang’s economy, DHS said.

Dongguan Oasis Shoes Co. Ltd., Shandong Meijia Group Co. Ltd., and Xinjiang Shenhuo Coal and Electricity Co. Ltd. are now part of the banned list.

As of June 12, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will apply “rebuttable presumption” that goods produced by the companies are prohibited from entering the United States.

“The Department of Homeland Security will not tolerate forced labor in U.S. supply chains and will enforce our laws across all industries and sectors,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. “We will continue to investigate companies that use or facilitate forced labor and will hold those entities responsible.”

Mayorkas urged stakeholders across industry and the U.S.’s international partners to join the country in trying to eliminate forced labor and be educated about the involvement of forced labor in various supply chains.

DHS’s Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force is banning the companies as part of its effort to promote accountability for the ongoing genocide and crimes against Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, DHS said in its release.

Since December 2021, there have been 68 entities added to the banned list.

Shandong Meijia Group Co. Ltd. is a company that processes and sells frozen seafood products, vegetables and other aquatic foods.

Dongguan Oasis Shoes Co. Ltd. is a shoe producer and manufacturer.

Xinjiang Shenhuo Coal and Electricity Co. Ltd. produces electrolytic aluminum, graphite carbon and prebaked anodes.

The companies participated in labor transfer programs to receive individuals from persecuted groups, including Uyghurs, DHS said.