US freezes thousands of containers from China over forced labor concerns

Thousands of solar panel parts have been stuck in US ports because US regulators fear the parts were forcibly manufactured in China’s Xinjiang region. That Reuters news agency writes Based on our own research.

In December 2021 Signed by US President Joe Biden Called the ‘Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act’, it halts all products made in the Xinjiang region at the US border. According to several investigations by human rights organizations and international news media, the Uyghurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic minority mainly from the Xinjiang region, have been imprisoned by China in forced labor camps. The United States wants to combat this forced labor with legislation that went into effect in June of this year.

The region produces parts of the solar panels used in the US to make the economy more sustainable. Reuters writes that these sustainable projects are being delayed as more than a thousand containers pile up at US ports. Three Chinese companies that made the components have halted further deliveries amid fears that more containers will be grounded.

Read more China Wins at UN: No Debate on Uyghur Report

The European Union is involved in a similar ban

China, which denies wrongdoing in Xinjiang, has demanded the United States release the seized parts. A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, quoted by Reuters, called the forced labor claims “a lie of the century, concocted by a small group of anti-Chinese people”.

The EU wants to impose a US-like ban. To avoid offending China, there is a blanket ban on products manufactured under duress, and the bill does not mention China or the Xinjiang region. The European Commission presented the proposal in September. Such a ban would take at least a year to be signed and is expected to take even longer to take effect.