Save Uyghur Campaign Welcomes US Move to Block Chinese Cotton and Tomato Imports

The Save Uyghur campaign under Justice For All welcomes the United States’ plan to block cotton and tomato imports from East Turkestan. This comes after concerns of using mass forced labor of Uyghur and other Turkic people, millions of whom are detained in concentration camps and prisons. Indicators of mass forced labor by the CPB includes “debt bondage, unfree movement, isolation, intimidation and threats, withholding of wages, and abusive working and living conditions.”

Around 80% of China’s cotton comes from the East Turkestan region, and 30% of United States apparel comes from China. Around a fifth of the world’s cotton also comes from China.

CBP official Brenda Smith told Reuters the effective import bans would “cover the entire supply chains for cotton, from yarn to textiles and apparel, as well as tomatoes, tomato paste and other regional exports.”

“We have reasonable, but not conclusive, evidence that there is a risk of forced labor in supply chains related to cotton textiles and tomatoes coming out of Xinjiang,” Smith, an executive assistant commissioner, told Reuters in an interview.

Read more info on this move here.