Petition under 19 U.S.C. §1307 concerning the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China
Pursuant to 19 CFR §12.42(b),1 the undersigned organizations submit this petition to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) concerning goods that are being, or are likely to be, imported into the United States and which are produced with forced, prison or indentured labor contrary to 19 U.S.C. §1307 (as amended). As explained herein, the Government of the People’s Republic of China (GOC) has and continues to perpetrate a widespread and systematic program of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (hereinafter “Uyghur Region”) targeting the Uyghur and other Turkic and/or Muslim peoples on the basis of their ethnicity and religion. An important component of this program is the extensive use of forced and prison labor for agriculture and industry throughout the Uyghur Region. Based on the information below and the attached reports, the petitioners have reason to
believe the following:
1. Forced or prison labor is used on a widespread and systematic basis to harvest and process cotton in the Uyghur Region. As such, this cotton has been and is being produced “wholly or in part” with forced or prison labor. This cotton is not exported to the United States directly but rather is used in the manufacture of yarn, fabric and
apparel.
2. In addition to the use of forced or prison labor to harvest or process cotton, the yarn, fabric and apparel manufactured in the Uyghur Region is also likely produced with forced labor and therefore has been produced “wholly or in part” with “compounded” forced labor (both as to the input and the good). Some of the apparel manufactured in the Uyghur Region is imported into the United States, as evidenced by this petition and the reports appended hereto. CBP has also already issued two WROs concerning apparel made in the Uyghur Region with forced labor (Hetian Taida Apparel Co., Ltd. on Sept 30, 2019 and Hero Vast Group on August 11, 2020).
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