Human rights activists, labour leaders and others have urged the United States to cast a wide net to stop imports of products made with forced labour in China's Xinjiang region.
The New York Times reported that these groups have urged the Biden administration on Friday, stating that slavery and coercion taint company supply chains that run through the region and China more broadly.
President Biden December had signed a law, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act which is set to go into effect in June. The law bans all goods made in Xinjiang or with ties to certain entities or programs that are under sanctions and transfer minority workers to job sites, unless the importer can demonstrate to the US government that its supply chains are free of forced labour.
According to The New York Times, a broad interpretation of the law could cast scrutiny on many products that the United States imports from China, which is home to more than a quarter of the world's manufacturing.
That could lead to more detentions of goods at the US border, most likely delaying product deliveries and further fueling inflation, the publication added.
The law requires that a task force of Biden administration officials produce several lists of entities and products of concern in the coming months.
However, it is unclear how many organizations the government will name, but trade experts said many businesses that relied on Chinese factories might realize that at least some part or raw material in their supply chains could be traced to Xinjiang.
"I believe there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of companies that fit the categories" of the law, John M Foote, a partner in the international trade practice at Kelley Drye & Warren, said, according to The NYT.
Meanwhile, the State Department had estimates that the Chinese government has detained more than one million people in Xinjiang in the last five years -- Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Hui and other groups -- under the guise of combating terrorism.
For years, Chinese authorities have subjected Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang to arbitrary arrests and detentions in internment camps, physical abuse, and restrictions on their religious practices and culture in what the United States and legislatures of several other Western countries say amounts to genocide and crimes against humanity.
The US and parliaments in some Western countries have declared China's actions against the Uyghurs and other people a genocide and crimes against humanity, though China has denied accusations of abuse, Radio Free Asia reported.
( With inputs from ANI )
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