The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has formally requested a briefing from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) concerning the implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), a law aimed at preventing goods manufactured with slave labor from entering the United States. The UFLPA, enacted in 2021, mandates that DHS's Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force develop strategies to block such imports.
This action comes as human rights organizations continue to highlight allegations of forced labor, particularly against Uyghurs, a Muslim minority group in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Representative Ro Khanna, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, emphasized that enforcing the UFLPA is not only a moral imperative but also crucial for American economic and national security. He stated that goods produced with forced labor, such as steel, aluminum, and textiles, can unfairly undercut U.S. manufacturers.
The committee's bipartisan letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin outlines 10 specific concerns, including updates to the UFLPA Entity List, which identifies companies suspected of using forced labor. While DHS added 43 companies to this list in July, a move Khanna acknowledged, the committee seeks assurances that enforcement is robust.
Specifically, the letter points to concerns that products from companies on the UFLPA list, originating from the XUAR, are still reaching U.S. consumers. This includes supply chains for critical materials like steel, aluminum, and silicon-carbon used in technology. The committee also highlighted a New York Times report suggesting that the cotton used in popular "Labubu" dolls may be sourced from forced labor.
"A lot of the textiles are coming, they come from China, are coming from Uyghurs. It's one of the easiest places to force people into labor, and that's why we included it, because of the reports that Uyghurs are involved in textile production," Khanna explained. He also noted China's practice of circumventing import restrictions by outsourcing manufacturing to countries like Malaysia or Vietnam, while acknowledging the distinct challenge posed by actual slave labor.
The committee's letter was signed by eight lawmakers, four Republicans and four Democrats, underscoring the bipartisan nature of the issue. Khanna reiterated that the push for fair trade and human rights means ensuring American companies are not forced to compete with goods produced through slave labor. "Most Americans believe in trade, but they want fair trade and they don't want to be competing with slave labor," he concluded.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., and Pop Mart, the maker of Labubu, for comment.