Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory

Updated Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory

On July 13, 2021, the U.S. Department of State, alongside the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the U.S. Department of Labor issued an updated Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory to highlight the heightened risks for businesses with supply chain and investment links to Xinjiang, given the entities complicit in forced labor and other human rights abuses there and throughout China. This updates the original Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory issued by U.S. government agencies on July 1, 2020.

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) government continues its horrific abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang) and elsewhere in China, targeting Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and ethnic Kyrgyz who are predominantly Muslim, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups.  These abuses include widespread, state-sponsored forced labor and intrusive surveillance, forced population control measures and separation of children from families, mass detention, and other human rights abuses amidst ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity.  Given the severity and extent of these abuses, businesses and individuals that do not exit supply chains, ventures, and/or investments connected to Xinjiang could run a high risk of violating U.S. law.

The updated advisory highlights:

• Information related to widespread, state-sponsored forced labor and intrusive surveillance in and related to Xinjiang;
• Information related to the various kinds of risks and potential exposure to state-sponsored forced labor and human rights abuses related to Xinjiang;
• The U.S. Department of State Guidance on Implementing the “UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” for Transactions Linked to Foreign Government End-Users for Products or Services with Surveillance Capabilities;
• Information for investors in PRC companies linked to surveillance in Xinjiang;
• Information on due diligence related to banking, financial institutions and other investors;
• Information from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Labor;
• Updated information about U.S. government actions taken in response to human rights abuses in and in connection to Xinjiang, including but not limited to the issuance of Withhold Release Orders by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the addition of entities to the U.S. Department of Commerce Entity List, the imposition of economic sanctions by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the imposition of visa restrictions by the U.S. Department of State, and the addition of goods to the U.S. Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (Annex 1);
• Information on forced labor in the Xinjiang silicon and polysilicon supply chain and the prevalence of inputs sourced from Xinjiang (Annex 4); and
• A list of other countries’ regulatory provisions and information on forced labor in supply chains (Annex 7).