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US cracks down on Chinese companies which use Muslim Uighur slave labor

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) –
The Trump administration announced Monday that its sanctions on Chinese companies which use Muslim Uighur slave labor could affect up to $250 million worth of goods that come from the Xinjiang region of China, the Western Journal reports.

The Department of Homeland Security has issued an order allowing customs officials to hold shipments if they suspect the products were made in violation of US laws on slavery and human trafficking. In order for the products to be released to the US market, the companies must prove no forced labor was used to make them. The measures target products and cotton made at five specific Chinese companies and locations, the Western Journal said.

The acting deputy secretary for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Ken Cuccinelli, said in statement that a broader ban on cotton harvested through slave labor was also being considered. “These extraordinary human rights violations demand an extraordinary response. This is modern-day slavery.”

“This order is intended to disrupt trade. The president strongly believes the American people are more than supportive of absorbing those sorts of disruptions in exchange for being able to interrupt the use of slave labor,” Cuccinelli added.

“By taking this action, DHS is combating illegal and inhumane forced labor, a type of modern slavery, used to make goods that the Chinese government then tries to import into the United States. When China attempts to import these goods into our supply chains, it also disadvantages American workers and businesses,” Cuccinelli said.