In a recent column, James Roth observed that although the U.S. government “occasionally sanctions Chinese fishing interests for ‘serious human rights abuses’…these sanctions affect only slivers of a gigantic industry.”
The same observation may be made about many other Chinese goods and goods manufactured outside of China but using one or more Chinese components. In the first place, U.S. sanctions pertaining to goods originating in China that are made at least in part by forced labor are not exhaustive. In the second place, bans on such goods are not always religiously obeyed.
The New York Times reports (“Senate Inquiry Finds BMW Imported Cars Tied to Forced Labor in China,” May 20, 2024):
A congressional investigation found that BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen purchased parts that originated from a Chinese supplier flagged by the United States for participating in forced labor programs in Xinjiang, a far western region of China where the local population is subject to mass surveillance and detentions.
Both BMW and Jaguar Land Rover continued to import components made by the Chinese company into the United States in violation of American law, even after they were informed in writing about the presence of banned products in their supply chain, the report said.
BMW shipped to the United States at least 8,000 Mini vehicles containing the part after the Chinese supplier was added in December to a U.S. government list of companies participating in forced labor. Volkswagen took steps to correct the issue.
Although Volkswagen “took steps to correct” this particular lapse, the company still maintains a facility in Xinjiang, the “far western region of China where the local population is subject to mass surveillance and detentions.” Volkswagen protests that it arranged for an independent audit of this facility and got an all-clear; the outside firm found it to be free of forced labor. But Volkswagen “declined to provide Congress a full copy of the audit.”
