US bans imports from China’s Xinjiang to raise stakes in forced labour crackdown

A new law blocking imports tainted by the slave labour of Uyghur Muslims will prove challenging for companies to follow and officials to enforce, writes Kieran Guilbert

An ethnic minority worker operates cotton yarn machinery in a textile factory in Xinjiang, China

(EPA-EFE)

The US has passed a law banning all imports from China’s Xinjiang region, signalling its strongest crackdown on slave labour to date and delivering a rebuke to Beijing over its treatment of Uyghur Muslims.

While the US already has legislation blocking the entry of slave-made goods, the newly-passed Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act goes further by shifting the burden of proof to importers, and will pose a fresh challenge for companies and customs officials alike.

The act was passed unanimously by the Senate on Thursday and is set to be signed by US president Joe Biden imminently.