U.S. Customs and Border Protection Assistant Director Brenda Smith confirmed to Reuters on September 8 that the agency’s Acting Director Mark Morgan is expected to announce later that day that the United States will implement a total ban on the entry of cotton, tomatoes, and other products of local origin from Xinjiang, China, for forced labor products.
The ban will authorize U.S. Customs to seize any shipments of goods suspected of being subject to forced labor, based on laws against human smuggling, child labor and human rights abuses. The move also underscores the Trump administration’s escalation of sanctions against China for the human rights persecution of Muslims in Xinjiang.
The U.N. agency has previously made clear that credible statistical reports indicate that at least one million Muslims in Xinjiang are being held in collective detention and subjected to forced labor.
Smith said the ban will cover all forms of cotton and tomato-heavy products from Xinjiang, including cotton yarn, textiles, clothing, tomato paste and more.
China accounts for about 20 percent of the world’s cotton production, mostly from Xinjiang, Smith said.
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