Car makers found buying goods banned under Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act: Report

Washington [US], Two-year-long research by the Senate Finance Committee in the US has revealed that car brands such as BMW, Land Rover, Jaguar and Volkswagen have over time been purchasing spare parts coming from the Xinjiang region of East Turkistan. , a report in The New York Times said. The same report, titled "Inadequate due diligence: Car maker CC complaint with forced labor", claimed that both BMW and Jaguar had continued to buy components made by Chinese companies in violation of US law, even when They were informed about restricted parts in the supply chain of their cars. Additionally, the same report by the Senate Finance Committee claims that BMW has shipped at least 8000 mini vehicles containing such banned parts to the US, even though the Chinese supplier is on the US government's list of companies participating in forced labor. Was added in. However Volkswagen took steps to fix this.The investigative report, commissioned by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon, aims to highlight the risks involved for automakers as the US tries to block the entry of goods made in Xinjiang under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. Used to be. In the New York Times report, a statement from Wyden noted that "Automakers are burying their heads in the sand and then swearing they can't find any forced labor in their supply chains. Like, the Finance Committee's oversight staff clearly revealed billion-dollar companies that couldn't: BMW imported cars, Jaguar Land Rover imported parts, and VW AG manufactured cars. “That included all components made by a supplier banned for using Uyghur forced labor,” he said. "Automakers' Self-Policing Isn't Working" According to the NYT report, automakers are not buying components directly from Sichuan Jingweda Technology Group, also known as JWD, but from a series of sub-suppliers to Volkswagen. Continues to run a facility. Xinjiang through a Chinese state-owned company.However, the carmaker claims to have been audited by an external entity and found to be free of forced labor in 2023. Although China has denied the existence of forced labor camps in Xinjiang, according to the US government, from 2017 to 2019, Chinese authorities detained more than one million ethnic Uyghurs and other minorities in re-education centers in Xinjiang.