In recent years, there has been an influx of “real hair” hair products, which are wigs and other products made from real human hair, mostly from China, into the U.S. market. The U.S. government has banned several large Chinese companies from continuing to export these products to the U.S., fearing that the human hair comes from minority groups in the notorious “internment camps” in Xinjiang, China.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has restricted shipments of “real hair” hair products from minority areas of Xinjiang, China, and has issued withholding orders against several manufacturers, the most recent of which was issued in September this year against the Luopu County Hair Products Industrial Park in Xinjiang. Earlier, two other Xinjiang-based hair products companies were also issued with hold orders on their products.
According to the Associated Press, CNN, and others, the real hair products are believed to have come from forced labor camps in the Xinjiang region of western China. Human rights groups allege that as many as 2 million Uighurs and other ethnic minorities have been held in numerous internment camps since 2016. Some of those released have alleged that they have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment in the camps, including electrocution, invasive medical examinations, forced sterilization, and shaving of their heads, among other things. The detainees were also subjected to ideological brainwashing and forced to renounce their religion and language. Chinese authorities have long suspected that Muslims in Xinjiang harbor separatist tendencies because of their unique culture, language, and religion.
The “human hair” hair products industry, known as “black gold,” generated more than $2.5 billion for the U.S. economy in 2018, with the vast majority of hair products coming from Asia, primarily China.
In mid-June of this year, federal authorities in New York seized 13 tons of various hair products suspected of being made from the hair of detainees from Xinjiang internment camps. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said the hair products, valued at about $800,000, came from Xinjiang’s Luopu County Meixin Hair Products Co.
In a statement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it issued the withholding order based on “information reasonably suggesting” that the products were produced using prison labor and forced labor, and that they were subjected to excessive overtime, wage garnishment and restrictions on movement.
In May of this year, U.S. authorities also seized goods from Xinjiang Hetian Haolin Hair Jewelry Co. Although the hair accessories were not genuine, they were also related to the U.S. government’s efforts to prevent goods produced under forced labor from entering the United States.
On September 22, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the cross-party Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act by a vote of 406 to 3, imposing a total ban on the import of all products from Xinjiang unless the company provides clear and convincing evidence that its supply chain is free of forced labor. Forced labor is allowed for importation. U.S. law already prohibits the importation of forced labor products, and the new bill goes further, assuming that all products produced in Xinjiang involve forced labor.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated that China strongly opposes the U.S. bill that “maligns the human rights situation in Xinjiang.
Subsequently, on September 30, the House of Representatives passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act, which directs the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to require U.S.-listed companies to disclose details of their business operations, dealings, and manufacturing supply chains in the Xinjiang region, including whether their products are manufactured through forced labor or whether the manufacturing process has any connection to Xinjiang Uyghur internment camps.
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