Are your household items made with forced labor?
The Uyghur Region produces over 20% of the world’s cotton. What does this mean for the U.S.? It means that 1 in 5 cotton products in an average American household contains fibers harvested with forced labor. MeiLin Wan, vice president of Textile Sales for Applied DNA Sciences, highlighted this statistic on a podcast by the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), reported MSN. A study from February 2023 to March 2024 found that 19% of cotton products, including socks, fabrics, garments, and home textiles, contained Uyghur region cotton, revealing the widespread nature of the issue.
The de minimis loophole
Despite U.S. government efforts to prevent the entry of cotton products originating from China’s Uyghur region, a significant amount of these products continues to reach American consumers. Wan believes that is due to a loophole in the de minimis provision which allows shipments valued under $800 to enter the U.S. duty free and without customs inspections as long as they are addressed to individuals.
She warns:
“I would point to the de minimis loophole as something that needs to be addressed as soon as possible,”…”The fact that the millions of goods that come in per day under de minimis are not subject to duties, and secondly, not checked, is harmful to the industry as a whole, harmful to all the businesses, and harmful to American consumers.”
In addition, Wan stressed that simply changing the country of origin for purchases does not guarantee clean cotton, as research has found Uyghur region cotton in products from several countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bangladesh.