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In
a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Democratic Senator
Bob Menendez said recent reports indicated a wide array of U.S.
companies, including Apple, Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola, and the Gap,
had sourced, or continued to source, goods from Xinjiang.
"Moreover, there are consistent reports that U.S. companies fail
to undertake basic labor and human rights assessments in
Xinjiang, in essence willfully ignoring the horrific conditions
of forced labor in Xinjiang," Menendez, the ranking member of
the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said in the letter.
"In failing to uphold their responsibilities to vet their supply
chains, these companies may be complicit in the mass repression
of Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim
minority groups," he said.
The firms Menendez mentioned did not immediately respond to
requests for comment.
The United Nations estimates more than a million Muslim Uighurs
have been detained in camps in Xinjiang in recent years. China
denies it violates Uighur rights and says the camps are designed
to stamp out terrorism and provide vocational skills.
Menendez, who has called for sanctions on China over the issue,
also requested information about U.S. government contractors who
source cotton from China, which produces 84% of its cotton in
Xinjiang.
"The use of materials that are manufactured using forced labor
is unacceptable for products in U.S. markets," he said in the
letter.
An Australian think tank said in a report earlier this month
that tens of thousands of ethnic Uighurs have been transferred
to work in factories across China supplying 83 global brands in
conditions "that strongly suggest forced labor."
On Monday, the Washington-based Fair Labor Association, which
conducts due diligence for major multinational firms, said it
was "deeply troubled by credible reports of forced labor and
other violations of fundamental rights in Xinjiang."
"We have directed our affiliates to review their direct and
indirect sourcing relationships, identify alternative sourcing
opportunities, and develop timebound plans to ensure that their
sourcing is in line with the FLA’s principles," it said.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by
Matt Spetalnick and Sonya Hepinstall)
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