Issuance of the Updated Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory

PRESS STATEMENT

ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE

JULY 13, 2021Share

The U.S. Department of State, alongside the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the U.S. Department of Labor, issued an updated Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory in response to the government of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and the growing evidence of its use of forced labor there. The updated Advisory highlights the heightened risks for businesses with supply chain and investment links to Xinjiang given the entities complicit in forced labor and other human rights abuses there and throughout China.

Among other elements, the updated Business Advisory:

• Includes information from the Department of Labor and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which are now co-signatories;
• Notes that the PRC government is perpetrating genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang;
• Provides specific information regarding risks related to investment in PRC companies linked to surveillance and forced labor in Xinjiang;
• Strengthens recommendations for businesses regarding the risks and potential exposure related to supply chains and investment links to Xinjiang, including but not limited to surveillance;
• Updates the list of U.S. government enforcement actions in and in connection to Xinjiang;
• Adds information on silicon and polysilicon supply chains linked to Xinjiang; and
• Provides a list of other countries’ relevant regulatory provisions and information on forced labor in supply chains.

The United States will continue to promote accountability for the PRC’s atrocities and other abuses through a whole-of-government effort and in close coordination with the private sector and our allies and partners.

The updated advisory highlights:

• Information related to widespread, state-sponsored forced labor and intrusive surveillance in and related to Xinjiang;
• Information related to the various kinds of risks and potential exposure to state-sponsored forced labor and human rights abuses related to Xinjiang;
• The U.S. Department of State Guidance on Implementing the “UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” for Transactions Linked to Foreign Government End-Users for Products or Services with Surveillance Capabilities;
• Information for investors in PRC companies linked to surveillance in Xinjiang;
• Information on due diligence related to banking, financial institutions and other investors;
• Information from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Labor;
• Updated information about U.S. government actions taken in response to human rights abuses in and in connection to Xinjiang, including but not limited to the issuance of Withhold Release Orders by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the addition of entities to the U.S. Department of Commerce Entity List, the imposition of economic sanctions by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the imposition of visa restrictions by the U.S. Department of State, and the addition of goods to the U.S. Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (Annex 1);
• Information on forced labor in the Xinjiang silicon and polysilicon supply chain and the prevalence of inputs sourced from Xinjiang (Annex 4); and
• A list of other countries’ regulatory provisions and information on forced labor in supply chains (Annex 7).