CFU Calls on Congress to Close Loophole Allowing Slave-Made Goods Into the U.S.

  • May 10, 2023

CFU PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 10, 11:00 AM ET

Sabrina Sohail: sabrina@campaignforuyghurs.org

(650) 703-4523

www.campaignforuyghurs.org

Campaign For Uyghurs (CFU) urgently calls on the U.S. Congress to reassess the nation’s de minimis rule on imported goods in order to close a loophole to support Uyghur rights and American interests. This loophole currently enables products made by Uyghur slave labor to enter the United States and seriously undermines the effectiveness of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which was enacted with near-unanimous support in December 2021 to combat the ongoing Uyghur Genocide.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act prohibits importation of any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part from East Turkistan, where Uyghurs and other Turkic people are subjected to unspeakable acts of slavery.

As Senator Marco Rubio highlighted in his recent op-ed, Chinese companies have discovered that they can bypass scrutiny by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) by exploiting the de minimis threshold. They achieve this by selling inexpensive goods directly to American consumers, with individual items not exceeding $800. This means that the CBP does not inspect these goods for potential ties to Uyghur slave labor. 

More decisive action must be taken to prevent unscrupulous companies from evading regulations and exploiting trade rules to import slave-made goods into the United States. As a nation that upholds human dignity, the United States cannot afford to let this continue. In this vein, we express our gratitude to Senator Rubio for his leadership and commitment to ensuring that Americans do not inadvertently support slavery.

CFU’s Executive Director Rushan Abbas, who urged the U.S. Congress to take action, stated: “We cannot, under any circumstances, allow even a trace of Uyghur slave labor to contaminate our country and its values. The UFLPA was a significant and necessary step in the right direction but it’s not sufficient. Chinese companies have discovered ways to brazenly circumvent CBP inspections by selling inexpensive products directly to unsuspecting American consumers. As a nation committed to preserving human dignity, we must put an end to this practice. Let us come together with the same unwavering determination we demonstrated in 2021 and take decisive action to close this loophole and eliminate products of Uyghur slave labor from our country.”

CFU also calls on the authorities to take action on platforms such as Temu and Shein, which facilitate direct-to-consumer transactions between Chinese companies and American consumers, in order to ensure the proper implementation of the UFLPA and prevent Uyghur forced labor.

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Campaign for Uyghurs

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