NCTO Issues Statement Commending Department of Homeland Security for Significantly Expanding the UFLPA Entity List & Stepping Up Enforcement of Products Made with Forced Labor
May 16, 2024
WASHINGTON, DC—National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas issued a statement today praising the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for adding 26 Chinese textile companies to the Uyghur forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List, bringing the total number of entities whose goods are banned from being imported into the U.S. market to 65.
Statement by NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas
“We commend DHS for significantly expanding the critical UFLPA Entity List and stepping up enforcement of entities that are egregiously trading in slave labor cotton sourced from Xinjiang, China. Slave labor cotton as well as man-made fibers produced in Xinjiang are feeding into clothing made in China and numerous other countries around the world that is destined for the U.S. market, severely undermining U.S. domestic producers.
“Today’s announcement marks an important step forward in following through on anti-forced labor legislation and sends a strong message to known offenders, enterprises and governments that the U.S. government is increasing its enforcement activities and dedication to cracking down on imports of goods made with forced labor.
“Chinese cotton produced with forced labor in Xinjiang is flooding the global marketplace and entering the U.S. market as downstream products. Some 76 percent of all Chinese cotton products contain Xinjiang cotton, which leads to textiles and apparel made with forced labor bleeding into global supply chains, most notably in Asia but also in our free trade agreement regions. The scourge of slave labor in Xinjiang involves not only cotton but extends to man-made fiber products as well.
“As a result, American textile plants have been forced to close and lay off workers. We have lost 17 textile plants in the past several months due in part to these illegal trade practices that are undermining the industry’s competitiveness.
“While the expanded Entity List is a positive step to increasing enforcement of goods made with forced labor, the list should include more companies outside of China that may be trading in goods and inputs made with forced labor.
“The U.S. also needs to close the de minimis loophole that is facilitating imported slave labor goods, toxic products and illicit fentanyl and other narcotics. Since the vast majority of de minimis imports are uninspected by CBP, this mechanism allows China and others to ship goods with impunity directly to U.S. consumers that violate our slave labor prohibitions and skirt consumer safety standards.
“In addition, we have recommended to DHS and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) other essential actions to mitigate the economic harm and to maximize civil and criminal penalties against trade predators.
They include:
- Increased UFLPA enforcement and inspections of imports to prevent textile and apparel goods from entering our market, including in the de minimis environment
- Immediate expansion of isotopic testing of suspected shipments and other targeting tools
- Ramped up textile and apparel enforcement with regard to the Western Hemisphere trade partner countries, including onsite production verification visits and other targeting measures to enforce rules of origin and address backdoor UFLPA violations
“The U.S. textile industry is experiencing one of the worst downturns in its history. We welcome today’s actions as part of the robust DHS textile enforcement plan that Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has announced and begun to implement. It is critical to have all these actions in place to act as an effective deterrent to China and other entities that are harming our domestic manufacturing base.”
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NCTO is a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers.
- U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 501,755 in 2023.
- The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $64.8 billion in 2023.
- U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $29.7 billion in 2023.
- Capital expenditures for textiles and apparel production totaled $2.27 billion in 2021, the last year for which data is available.
CONTACT:
Kristi Ellis
Vice President, Communications
National Council of Textile Organizations
kellis@ncto.org | 202.281.9305
