美国国土安全部宣布，将一家位于中国的钢铁制造商和一家生产人造甜味剂的企业列入进口禁令名单。他们指责这两家企业在新疆使用强迫劳动。
此举扩大了美国遏制侵犯人权行为进入国内的努力范围。据称，这些行为与来自中国新疆地区的强制劳动有关。
这是美国法律第一次对基于中国的强制劳动指控而针对的钢铁企业或人工甜味剂业务进行干预。
“今天的行动彰显了我们清除美国供应链中的强制劳动、捍卫所有人基本人权的承诺。”国土安全部政策副部长罗伯特·西尔弗斯表示，“没有哪个行业能置身事外。我们将继续识别各行业的实体，并对那些企图从剥削和滥用中获利的行为方负责。”
去年年底，美国总统乔·拜登签署了一项涉及新疆人权侵犯问题的联邦法案。这一指控针对的是中国维吾尔族群体和其他穆斯林少数民族。
中国政府已对此否认，并坚称其在新疆的做法是为了反恐及确保社会稳定。
美国对华贸易关系正在转向考虑国家安全和人权因素的方向。北京方面曾指称，美国借人权之名抑制中国的经济增长。
这项法案最初打击的目标包括太阳能产品、番茄、棉花以及服装，随后几个月里，执法机构发现需加大新领域如铝业与海鲜的干预力度。
“这反映出不幸的事实：强迫劳动仍污染着许多供应链。”西尔弗斯在庆祝实体黑名单成立两周年的会议上说道，“我们的网罗范围实际上非常广，从行业角度看。”
他表示，《法案》改变了进口商必须了解其供应链的责任标准，并表明美国能够在不中断正常贸易的情况下做正确的事。
自2022年6月以来，实体黑名单已经新增了75家企业。据国土安全部称，这些企业被指控在新疆使用强迫劳动或获取与之相关的劳工产品。被列入的中国公司包括宝武集团新疆八一钢铁有限公司和常州广汇食品配料有限公司。
最后，公告详细列举了这两家新加入黑名单的实体。
新闻来源：www.abcnews.go.com
原文地址：US bans new types of goods from China over allegations of forced labor
新闻日期：2024-10-02
原文摘要：
The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that it would ban the import of goods from a Chinese steel manufacturer and a Chinese maker of artificial sweetener, accusing both of being involved in the use of forced labor from China's far-west region of Xinjiang. The action broadens the scope of the U.S. effort to counter products from entering the country that the government says are tied to human rights abuses. The additions to the entity list under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act marks the first time a China-based steel company or aspartame sweetener business have been targeted by U.S. law enforcement, DHS said. “Today’s actions reaffirm our commitment to eliminating forced labor from U.S. supply chains and upholding our values of human rights for all,” said Robert Silvers, undersecretary of Homeland Security for policy. “No sector is off-limits. We will continue to identify entities across industries and hold accountable those who seek to profit from exploitation and abuse.” The federal law that President Joe Biden signed at the end of 2021 followed allegations of human rights abuses by Beijing against members of the ethnic Uyghur group and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. The Chinese government has refuted the claims as lies and defended its practice and policy in Xinjiang as fighting terror and ensuring stability. The new approach marked a shift in the U.S. trade relationship with China to increasingly take into account national security and human rights. Beijing has accused the U.S. of using human rights as a pretext to suppress China’s economic growth. Enforcement of the law initially targeted solar products, tomatoes, cotton and apparel, but over the last several months, the U.S. government has identified new sectors for enforcement, including aluminum and seafood. “That’s just a reflection of the fact that sadly, forced labor continues to taint all too many supply chains,” Silvers told a trade group in June when marking the two-year anniversary of the creation of the entity list. “So our enforcement net has actually been quite wide from an industry-sector perspective.” He said the law “changed the dynamic in terms of putting the onus on importers to know their own supply chains" and that its enforcement had showed that the U.S. could “do the right thing” without halting normal trade. Since June 2022, the entity list has grown to a total of 75 companies accused of using forced labor in Xinjiang or sourcing materials tied to that forced labor, Homeland Security said. Baowu Group Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel Co. Ltd and Changzhou Guanghui Food Ingredients Co. Ltd. were the Chinese companies newly added to the list.
